Merkel says she and Netanyahu agreed to disagree on settlements
But we agree on other matters of concern to Israel’s security, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to Berlin Thursday. On the expansion of Jerusalem and West Bank construction, Merkel said: Israel is a sovereign state and must determine its own policy. “Our relations are unchanged and are strong enough to survive our differences.”
The annual government-to-government session ended in a row of expanded security and economic cooperation pacts. A wide-ranging discussion of regional affairs covered the Iranian nuclear issue, Syria’s chemical weapons, the upsets in Egypt and the Gaza ceasefire.