German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be the first foreign non-President/king to speak in the Knesset, and she will do so in German - unleashing a bipartisan storm of protest from several MKs.  A surprising threat to boycott the Tuesday afternoon session has come from left-wing MK Shelly Yechimovitch (Labor), daughter of Holocaust survivors.

"I will not be present when Merkel speaks." Yechimovitch said. "A speech in German from the Knesset podium, when it is not an absolute must, is very insensitive towards the Holocaust survivors, for whom German is the language of their torturers."

German has been heard in the Knesset twice before, most recently German President Horst Koehler addressed the legislature in February 2005.  The MKs' objections this time, however, stem from the fact that Merkel is not a head of state, and therefore the Knesset regulations do not require that she be allowed to speak in her native tongue.

Eldad to Read Aloud Holocaust Poem

MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) was the first to object to hearing German in the Knesset. He plans an ostentatious series of protest measures, beginning with a short speech in the Knesset prior to the Merkel visit, a walk-out from the plenum, and then a public reading of a Holocaust poem by famous Land of Israel poet Uri Tzvi Greenberg in the Knesset auditorium.  The poem is entitled, "To the Mound of Corpses in the Snow," and includes the line, "And when they took my father out to the hill of corpses in the snows of the foreign field, the German officer yelled, 'Undress!' - and my father understood the judgment." 

"Shouts in German were the last things millions of European Jews heard before they were slaughtered," Eldad said, "and among them were my grandfather and uncles."

Both Eldad and Yechimovitch praised the friendly relationship that currently exists between Israel and Germany. 

Olmert Explains

"The important thing," said Prime Minister Olmert about Merkel's visit, "is that we do not forget anything.  But we also don't give up the chance and obligation to work together for a better future for us and the whole world."

Likud MKs Limor Livnat and Yisrael Katz, as well as MK Yitzchak Levy (National Union), also plan to boycott the Merkel Knesset session.  

On the other hand, Pensioners MKs Sarah Marom-Shalev, a Holocaust survivor herself, said she sees no problem with a German speech in the Knesset, and criticized the MKs who have publicly objected. Marom-Shalev was born in Romania in 1934, and heads the Knesset Lobby for Holocaust Survivors.

Merkel Promises Industrial Zone for PA

Merkel visited Yad Vashem, Ben-Gurion's home in Sde Boker, and other Israeli sites.  On Tuesday morning, following criticism from Hamas that she was ignoring its interests, she announced that her government would donate 10 million Euros towards the building of an industrial zone in the PA-controlled city of Jenin.

Asked by reporters about Israel's commitment to stop building in Judea and Samaria, Merkel did not give a clear answer.  She said that she had discussed the matter with Olmert, and that both sides must try harder to reach an agreement on it.  Olmert, for his part, said he would continue to expand the existing Jewish neighborhoods around Jerusalem, such as Givat Ze'ev.  

German Chief of Staff Here, Too

The Chief of Staff of the German Army, General Wolfgang Schneiderhan, has also arrived in Israel as the formal guest of the IDF Chief of General Staff, Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. General Schneiderhan will be visiting for three days, as part of the delegation of Chancellor Merkel and the German Defense Minister. This is the fourth visit by the Chief of Staff of the German Army in Israel.