New Poland one of Israel's greatest EU allies

[Jaga]

Peres: New Poland one of Israel's greatest EU allies

from the visit of Jewish prime-minister in Poland:

Peres speaks at length about Jewish History in Poland. ‘Remnants of death camps on Poland’s land serve as pillar of fire in our collective historical memory’

more:
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3533120,00.html

Peres in Warsaw: Israel's inception Jews' revenge on the Nazis / Attila Somfalvi

Israeli president attends ceremony marking 65 years since Warsaw Ghetto uprising, says 'it is through peace that the forces of light can avenge the actions of the forces of darkness'. Polish president: We must never forget what happened during Holocaust

[uncltim]

IDF troops do nothing as Hebron settlers threaten German MPs

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press

Tags: settlers, Germany, Israel

A group of Jewish settlers in Hebron insulted and threatened a visiting German parliamentary delegation touring the West Bank city on Thursday. The German embassy in Israel protested to the Foreign Ministry that Israel Defense Forces soldiers and police officers did nothing to stop the settlers' attacks. The German group cut short its visit to the city after the incident.

The IDF declined to comment on the incident, while the Israeli embassy in Berlin issued an apology.

Seven members of the German parliament's law committee toured Hebron, the West Bank's largest city. The IDF controls the center of the city to protect several hundred Jewish settlers living there.
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At the start of the visit, the legislators were cursed, insulted and threatened by a small group of settlers, the visitors said in a statement on Thursday.

"The Israeli police and army showed no willingness to step in and said they couldn't guarantee the safety of the delegation," the statement said. "In order to give the peace process a chance, the members of the law committee, as friends of Israel, appeal to the Israeli authorities to rein in the fanaticism of Jewish settlers."

The legislators, headed by German Green Party deputy Jerzy Montag, leader of a German-Israeli parliamentary group, said the settlers swore at them, threatened them, called them "Nazis" and poured paint on their cars. Following the attacks the delegation members decided to cut their visit short and left Hebron. They said were so shocked and upset that they considered leaving Israel immediately in protest.

The Israeli ambassador in Germany, Yoram Ben-Zeev, spoke to the lawmakers by phone and expressed his regret for the incident. Ben-Zeev said he will meet personally with every committee member in the delegation upon their return to Germany this week, to express his feelings and to apologize.

The German embassy in Israel protested to the Foreign Ministry in the name of the German government, saying the IDF soldiers at the site did nothing to stop the settlers.

"We're still looking into the circumstances of the incident," a senior Foreign Ministry source said. "This is not the first time that such things have happened and we can only regret it, especially since these are great friends of Israel."

A Foreign Ministry official said members of the German delegation called the ministry for help during the incident. The ministry contacted police and asked them to intervene, but by that time the delegation had already left.

Foreign Ministry officials said the delegation did not coordinate their Hebron visit with Israeli authorities, and therefore no preparations had been made for their arrival.

However, German diplomats said the Israeli embassy in Berlin had been given complete details of the visit even before the lawmakers arrived in Israel.

Noam Arnon, the spokesman for Hebron's settlers, said that while he does not agree or sympathize with the settlers' actions in this incident, "one must take into consideration that these were not innocent tourists."

The parliamentarian were accompanied by "an extreme left-wing organization that incites to drive the Jewish settlers out of Hebron and slanders the IDF and Israel," Arnon said. "It's like the tours of the National Jewish Front I used to lead in Arab villages."

Arnon invited the "representatives of European states" to visit Hebron without the "hostile escort" to see things as they really were.