Ashkenazi and UAE FM visit Holocaust Memorial in Berlin

The foreign ministers of Israel and the UAE, Gabi Ashkenazi and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, held their first conference in Berlin on Tuesday, joined by their host German FM Heiko Maas. First, they toured the city’s famous Holocaust Memorial, where Abdullah Bin Zayed took the opportunity to honor the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. He left a handwritten note in the facility’s guest book stating: “Never again.”

“A whole group of humanity fell victim to those calling for extremism and hatred,” the sheikh wrote. His visit to the memorial, he said, “underscored the importance of human values such as coexistence, tolerance and accepting the other… as well as respect for all creeds and faiths.” He said there was new hope for “Palestinians and Israelis to work for a two-state solution and a better region.”

Ashkenazi urged Palestinian leaders to return to the negotiating table, warning that “the longer we wait, the harder it will be.”