Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke Tuesday in Germany, emphasizing the values shared by both Israel and Germany, the unique connection between the two countries, and Germany's role in ensuring that Iran never acquire nuclear weapons.
Speaking at the Bundestag, Herzog said, “A little less than a millennium ago, a violent tempest engulfed the ancient Jewish communities of Germany,” Herzog began. “The First Crusade gravely wounded these Jewish communities, leaving them in shock, in agony, and incomplete. That trauma shaped, here in Germany — or Ashkenaz, as the Jews called it — new practices of commemoration.”
“The ancient wealth of Jewish liturgy was supplemented by a chilling prayer, which we still recite today, throughout the Jewish lifecycle: Yizkor. In its despair, in its anguish, the Jewish People turned to God and sought to task him — to task God — with the mission of memory. As if to declare: ‘You, God — remember that which we cannot forget!’”
Herzog continued, “With your permission, I wish today, as President of the State of Israel, the state of the Jewish People, to begin my remarks with the Yizkor prayer, which I dedicate to the elevation of the souls of our brothers and sisters, who were killed, and massacred, and murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices.”
Following a short prayer, the Israeli President added, “I stand here before you today, but I am not alone. I stand here as an emissary. I stand here as the President of the State of Israel, the sovereign and democratic state of the Jewish People, the fulfillment of the prayers of so many generations.”
“I stand here before you carrying a single imperative. One that alongside the Ten Commandments and ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’ is perhaps the most sublime, ethical, and binding biblical injunction for all Jews: Remember. The Jewish People are a remembering people. This is an essential and inseparable part of our identity. And thus, treading on German soil, I cannot help but remember and retrieve the eternal photo album of my people, in which are scattered countless images from this land. Images of peaks. Images of voids.
“Germany was, for centuries and millennia, a glorious home for our people, a warm, good, and fertile home, a home in which Judaism flourished in every aspect: religion, culture, intellect, statecraft, science, and so much more,” he emphasized. “Germany was home to Jewish titans of culture, intellect, and science. ... Here they all grew up. Here they all were educated. Here they all spent their formative years. They contributed to the prosperity of the Jewish People; they contributed to the prosperity of Germany. So this land, your land, is most deeply and intimately present in my nation’s DNA.”
“But, ladies and gentlemen, and this is no secret, this land — Germany — was home to the greatest atrocities ever inflicted on the Jewish People and humanity at large, throughout the ages.” Noting the Holocaust, he added, “Never in human history was there a campaign like the one the Nazis and their accomplices conducted to annihilate the Jewish People. Never in history was a state responsible, as Nazi Germany was responsible, for the loss of all semblance of humanity, for the erasure of all mercy, for the pursuit of the worldwide obliteration, with such awful cruelty, of an entire people.”
“Thirty-five years have passed,” he said, since his father, Chaim Herzog, visited Germany as Israel's first sitting President to do so. Now, the younger Herzog said, “I, about to conclude my state visit to Germany at Bergen-Belsen in a few hours, wish to repeat his remarks here, before you, representatives of the German people, from all factions, and I say: the Jewish People do not forget. Not just because of our debt to the generations of the past, but also because of our duties to the generations of the future.”
“History has bound the Jewish People and the State of Israel to Germany indivisibly. ... We must continue learning and teaching about the Holocaust. Investigating it without fear or restriction, looking squarely at reality as it is. Waging an all-out war on Holocaust denial. Studying the conditions that led to it. Leaving no stone unturned. Trying to understand what the mind cannot comprehend.”
We must “not ignore voices that spew hate, be they online, on social media, in the streets, or in places of political power,” Herzog emphasized. “We must declare all-out war on antisemitism and racism: stiff, clear, and unyielding. We must find a way to walk together, in light of the values of peace, justice, mutual respect, tolerance, and partnership.”
“The partnership between Israel and Germany has achieved global renown, and we must continue deepening and cultivating it, for the benefit of a brilliant future not only for our countries but for the whole of humanity.
“The modern State of Israel is a wonder of revival and prosperity, of a momentous contribution to humanity in culture, medicine, academia, science, and so many other fields. ... Israel has also become a powerful engine of pan-regional partnership in the Middle East. The Abraham Accords, joining earlier peace accords and endeavors for normalization, dialogue, and rapprochement, have made Israel a prime mover of close neighborly relations, of prosperity, and of unprecedented growth in our region.
“Israel’s outreach for peace is genuine; our warm and deep relations with of our neighbors are genuine; and so is the great value that they are bringing our whole region and the world, this is genuine.
“Israel has always aspired, and will continue to aspire, to good neighborliness and peace with all states and nations in the Middle East, and of course also with our Palestinian neighbors. This is an objective, so full of hope and faith, that we have never relinquished, nor shall we ever relinquish. It requires us, and it also requires the Palestinians, to look directly at reality and to make every effort to change it for the better. Our Palestinian neighbors must, first and foremost, fight terror and stop it at once.”
Turning his attention to the Iranian threat, Herzog continued, “Israel is a party to the international effort to block the radical forces sowing terror, grief, and devastation and seeking to menace everyone in the world. Even in our generation, even right now, dark forces of hate, led by Iran, threaten not only Israel, and not only stability in the Middle East, but the global order itself. Here, at this important forum in Berlin, I call on the family of nations to work firmly and assertively against Iran and its plans to develop nuclear weapons.”
“The possession of weapons of mass destruction by a U.N. member state that calls on a daily basis for the annihilation of another U.N. member state is simply inconceivable. Threats and endeavors to annihilate Israel are inconceivable. The guideline must be clear: a state that denies the Holocaust, a state that acts out of hatred and belligerency, a state that threatens the State of Israel’s right to exist—is ineligible to sign deals that will only embolden it, is ineligible for kickbacks or funds, is ineligible for concessions, under any circumstances.
“The international community must stand on the right side of history, set clear conditions, impose fierce and essential sanctions, create an impermeable buffer between Iran and nuclear capabilities—it must act, and not back down. The State of Israel will defend itself and will fight by all means necessary against threats to it and to its citizens. I call on the whole world: don’t stand idly by.
“I am confident that Germany will be a leading actor in the departure from the terrible tragedy afflicting the people of Ukraine, and we all hope for their suffering to end as soon as possible and for stability and peace to return to Ukraine and the whole of Europe.
“I am completely confident that our shared values, and the deep friendship between our countries, will contribute toward reinforcing our partnership further along the journey that Israel and Germany are making together, side by side, hand in hand, toward a prosperous future filled with hope.”