Germany

NOVANEWS by Cara St. Louis From Reuters: By escalating the action to a full strike – the first by the diplomatic corps since the country’s establishment in 1948 – the diplomats will close all of Israel’s 102 missions abroad, paralyzing most diplomatic work with other countries and the United Nations. “We are completely shutting down the (foreign ministry) office and missions abroad. This is the first time ever,” ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said. Another ministry official told Reuters: “As of now, the foreign ministry doesn’t exist. It’s not possible even to submit complaints”. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Called the strike “irresponsible” and “a wretched decision and a display of a loss of control on union’s part.” “We shall do whatever possible to minimize the damage to the ...

NOVANEWS Merkel's Visit by JONATHAN COOK The 24-hour visit by German chancellor Angela Merkel to Israel this week came as relations between the two countries hit rock bottom. According to a report in Der Spiegel magazine last week, Merkel and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been drawn into shouting matches when discussing by phone the faltering peace process. Despite their smiles to the cameras during the visit, tension behind the scenes has been heightened by an diplomatic bust-up earlier this month when Martin Schulz, the president of the European parliament and himself German, gave a speech to the Israeli parliament. In unprecedented scenes, a group of Israeli legislators heckled Schulz, calling him a “liar”, and then staged a walk-out, led by the economics minister N...

NOVANEWS Jewish group presents German chancellor with its distinguished Joseph Prize in recognition of her ‘abiding commitment’ to protecting human rights of Jews, defending Jewish religious freedom. ynet The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has presented German Chancellor Angela Merkel with its distinguished ADL Joseph Prize for Human Rights in recognition of her “abiding commitment to promoting and protecting human rights at home and abroad.” In presenting the prize, ADL cited a number of accomplishments and actions that it said showed Chancellor Merkel’s unwavering commitment to human rights. “They include Merkel’s efforts to protect the human rights of Jews through her commitment to the security of the State of Israel; raising her voice against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ar...

NOVANEWS   Munich Olympics, Revisited by ALISON WEIR The Washington Post has published a moving article, “Russian Jews remember Israeli athletes murdered at 1972 Munich Olympic Games.” Unfortunately, it gets a few things wrong and provides a one-sided context for the tragedy. Allow me to correct the report and fill in a few of the missing facts. Just 23 years before the Olympic incident, Israel had been created through ethnically cleansing much of the indigenous Palestinian population. This had been accomplished through at least 33 massacres and was maintained in the years following by still more acts of ethnic cleansing and additional massacres. (These included areas from which the Munich kidnappers came). Five years before the Munich incident, Israel violently conquered even more...

NOVANEWS Multimillion dollar arms deal signed by Berlin and Jerusalem will help Israel protect its gas pipelines Times of Israel Germany has signed a multimillion dollar arms deal with Israel, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported Saturday. Within the framework of the deal, Germany will reportedly supply Israel with two guided missile destroyers, each valued at one billion euros. The destroyers will be used to protect Israel’s gas pipelines. In April, Der Spiegel reported that Israel may sell technologically advanced attack drones to the German military. According to the German weekly, the German defense ministry proposed the purchase several months ago, and German representatives have already held two meetings with IDF officials to discuss the matter. Germany has in the past expressed inter...