Israel Has No Problem With German Peacekeepers
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he has no problem with German soldiers participating in a robust multi-national military force tasked with keeping the peace in southern Lebanon after Israel finishes with Hezbollah. Last week the German-language media fiercely debated the appropriateness of deployed German soldiers within proximity of Israeli Jews. The German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau wrote that the Holocaust for Germany is not only part of the past, but remains "part of the German present." As such, no German soldier must be allowed, even in theory, "to be put in a situation where he may point his weapon at an Israeli." Austria's Der Standard stated that it was "impossible that grandchildren of Holocaust perpetrators potentially find themselves in a situation where they shoot at grandchildren of Holocaust survivors." But apparently confident that any future flare-up will, like the present round of fighting, not be instigated by Israel, Olmert said in an interview published on Friday that he had told German Chancellor Angela Merkel Israel had no problem with Germans being stationed in the area. Speaking to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, Olmert said he "would be very happy if Germany took part. There is at present no other country that acts more friendly toward Israel than Germany." Unlike her predecessor, Merkel has pro |
