Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman met German President Christian Wulff in Jerusalem Sunday afternoon.
At the meeting, the two leaders discussed various subjects, including Iran. FM Liberman said that it is necessary to toughen and increase the sanctions against Iran, provide massive support to student and other free organizations in Tehran, and broadcast messages of freedom to the Iranian people.
"We all understand that Iran is brazenly deceiving the West, and the West wants to be deceived," Lieberman said. "The West is delivering a misguided message of weakness instead of dealing with the threat in the appropriate manner. If the international community cannot stop North Korea, which is a poor country isolated by the world, this sends a bad message to countries like Iran and organizations like the Taliban, which are following events closely. The Iranian leadership employs rhetoric against Israel, but its prime objective is the Gulf States and, after that, Saudi Arabia."
Minister Liberman said that relations between Israel and Germany are excellent, between the governments as well as between peoples, with flourishing cooperation in many areas. The two countries are involved in very important joint projects to extend aid to third-world countries.
Wulff arrived Israel on Saturday, met with President Shimon Peres and placed wreaths at the Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial Sunday on the fifth visit to Israel by a German president in the past 25 years.
"The incomprehensible crimes of the Shoah [Holocaust] have made the defense of Israel's right to exist a permanent duty for Germany and Germans," he wrote in the Yad VaShem guest book.
In an official statement before leaving Germany, Wulff stated, "In this official visit, I see a sign of our responsibility towards the existence of Israel and the very relationship between our two countries." He added that Germany has a responsibility towards Israel to "fight against anti-Semitism."
Wulff represents the younger generation in Germany and is the first German President born after the Second World War. He is being accompanied by his 17-year old daughter, Foreign Office officials, members of the German parliament, Jewish community leaders, business representatives and a delegation of students.
Wulff said that he is encouraging the “peace process,” which has come to a virtual halt following the Palestinian Authority’s rejection of American proposals for Israel to renew a 90-day freeze on building for Jews in Judea and Samaria. He is to visit Ramallah before returning to Germany on Tuesday.
President Peres is expected to raise a host of issues, including the international handling of the Iranian nuclear issue and strengthening trade between Israeli and German economies.
Wulff was also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Opposition leader Kadima Knesset Member Tzipi Livni, as well as representatives of the German community.
He will also deliver a lecture at Hebrew University where he will view joint Israeli-German projects and visit innovation centers dedicated to producing alternative energy. His visit also is aimed at promoting trade relations between Israel and Germany, Europe’s leading trading partner with a total annual trade of $6 billion.