German President in Jerusalem: Relations with Israel “solid”
Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Sunday in Jerusalem that his country's relations with Israel "experienced turbulent winds" but that the foundation remains solid. He said that disagreements, "as there have been in the past, they do not endanger these foundations."
Two weeks earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu refused to receive the German foreign minister after he chose to meet radical anti-government Breaking the Silence and B’Tzelem activists. After meeting Steinmeier Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel has a "unique partnership" with Germany. He also stressed that Israeli troops have "moral standards second to none" – in a dig at Breaking the Silence.
The German president laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem on Sunday, as part of his four-day official visit to the region, during which he will also meet Palestinian leaders and address students at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. At his personal request, President Rivlin escorted him on a tour of Jerusalem’s colorful Mahane Yehuda open-air market.