MKs shocked over Iranian delegation blunder
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee delegation left seething as Germany invites Iranian delegation to visit Bundestag – at same time as Israeli delegation
The MKs claim that none of them had been given advance notice with regards to the presence of the Iranian delegation. Surprisingly, they encountered them by chance at the entrance to the Bundestag in Berlin when both delegations arrived at the same time.
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The issue became the focus of the day and for the most part, the MKs expressed a great deal of anger over the incident. "We have expressed our objection at every meeting we had. I hope Germany, a close friend of Israel's, will do everything to worsen sanctions in order to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons," said MK Zeev Bielski (Kadima) who was a member of the delegation.
After the presence of the Iranian delegation was revealed, the MKs continued to meet with German government officials in Berlin, expressing their objections at every meeting.
Yet this has not been the only incident to embarrass Israel's delegation on their visit to Europe. On Tuesday the delegation was assaulted by a French senator while meeting with a number of senators in Paris. Among other things, she called the MKs "colonialists".
French Senator Monique Cerisier Ben Guiga expressed harsh criticism against Israel. She claimed the state was practicing "colonialism" and preventing Gazans from leading normal lives.
Finally, she criticized the decision to impair the prison conditions of Palestinian prisoners, and added a personal tale about witnessing settler violence towards Palestinians while on a visit to Hebron.
MK Shaul Mofaz, in his response to the senator, said he would attempt "not to answer in the same manner in which you are speaking" and to maintain the codes of diplomacy. "It was a tense meeting," said Bielski. "The madam complained about Israel in a number of fields and compared Gilad Shalit to the Palestinian prisoners."
Following the second incident the MKs decided to sharpen their message about the conflict and did nothing to hide their anger. There was even a point where the delegation considered cancelling the rest of their planned activities on the European trip, but decided not to do so after consulting officials back in Israel who said such a response would cause a diplomatic crisis with Germany.
They did however formulate a sharp letter to the German chancellor, the chairman of Germany's foreign affairs committee and the foreign minister, expressing their anger over the incident.
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