Germany and Israel Today United by the Past, Divided by the Present? Germany and Israel Today Germany and Israel Today United by the Past, Divided by the Present? Authors Dr. Steffen Hagemann Dr. Roby Nathanson With a commentary by Prof. Dan Diner Contents 4 Germany and Israel Today Contents Preface 6 Introduction 8 Method 10 1. The state and national identity 12 2. History and the Holocaust 20 3. Israeli-German relations today 28 4. Special relationship and responsibility 38 5. Conclusion 50 Continuity in spite of change? Thoughts on the relationship between 52 Germany and Israeli Jews – by Dan Diner Appendix 60 References 68 About the Authors 69 Imprint 70 5 Preface 2.Preface History and Holocaust Liz Mohn Vice-chair of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board Because of its national history, Germany In both countries, however, many young peo- bears a special responsibility towards the ple too are keenly interested in each other Jewish people and the state of Israel. Ever and are committed to a future together. One since the inception of the Bertelsmann important goal is to learn from one another, Stiftung almost forty years ago, my husband for without such learning, we cannot succeed and I have been committed to fostering in making our world a more equitable and reconciliation between Germans and Israelis. more peaceful place. On our many visits to Israel, we have always been moved by the open and welcoming In order to continue the serious, open dialog attitudes of its people, many of whom have between our peoples, it is important to be become good friends of ours. Personalities aware of differences in perception and changes like Shimon Peres, Teddy Kollek, and Dov in the way we view each other over time. Judkowski helped us to realize important Israel is located in a political environment in projects such as developing a German-Israeli which it is necessary to reflect on individual Young Leaders Exchange Program, fostering perspectives – which makes it all the more an institute for teaching democratic values, important to be aware of the hopes and fears equality, and acceptance, and founding the of the population. The present study aims to first school of journalism in Israel. contribute to this awareness. It is based on a recent survey in which over 2,000 people in Germany and Israel have drawn closer to- Germany and Israel were interviewed about gether in the past decades, maintaining close their personal attitudes and convictions. relations on all levels and across a broad spectrum of fields, largely thanks to the efforts of the generations who experienced the horrors of the Nazi past at first hand. These people understood the importance of working for reconciliation and paving the way towards a shared future. 6 Germany and Israel Today The findings of this survey can help us to un- derstand and respect each other not only in our similarities, but also – and perhaps espe- cially – in our diversity. This understanding is of crucial importance in our globalized world. Additionally, discovering common ground is dependent on personal encounters and open dialog based on genuine interest in one another. It is familiarity that breeds understanding, and understanding is the foundation on which we can build trust and friendship. 7 Introduction 2.Introduction History and Holocaust May 2015 will mark the fiftieth anniversary the most recent escalation in the conflict of German-Israeli diplomatic relations. Dur- between Israel and Hamas in the summer of ing these fifty years, the two countries have 2014 brought deep-rooted emotions to the intensified their political and economic ties surface. The war in the Middle East trig- and drawn closer together in a wide variety gered an increase in anti-Semitic activity in of social spheres. They have also launched Germany that even included acts of physical a number of joint projects such as coopera- violence against Jews. The criticism leveled tive business and research endeavors, joint at the Israeli government in public discourse cultural initiatives, and numerous encounter was often based on anti-Semitic stereotypes, programs for young people from both coun- while the policies of the Israeli government tries. All these efforts attest to the special were compared with those of the Nazis. significance of the bilateral relations bet- ween Israel and Germany, which also shows Thus it seems appropriate to examine the in the annual consultations between the two exact nature of the relationship between the governments, which began in 2008 to mark Germans and the Jewish population of Israel. the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of What do the people of each country think the state of Israel. about each other, what importance do they place on the remembrance of Nazi crimes, As a consequence of Germany’s responsibil- and what do they think about German and ity for the Holocaust, the country’s commit- Israeli policies? And finally, how have these ment to Israel’s right to existence and to perceptions and attitudes changed in recent bearing joint responsibility for its security years? ranks among the seemingly unshakable cornerstones of German foreign policy. A clear understanding of the ways in which Leading political figures have reaffirmed Germany and Israel perceive each other this commitment on numerous occasions. is crucial for the future of their bilateral However, the relationship between the two relations, since the attitudes underlying countries cannot by any stretch be descri- these perceptions may serve as indicators bed as normal; it remains colored by the for potential future crises and challenges past and its fragility is evident in many of and thus provide early warning signs for the the controversies that have arisen in recent benefit of those dedicated to fostering dialog years – such as that surrounding Günter and understanding between the two nations. Grass’s poem “What must be said.” Similarly, 8 Germany and Israel Today This is the reasoning behind the Bertels- Our thanks go first of all to the authors Roby mann Stiftung’s decision to reprise its 2007 Nathanson and Steffen Hagemann for their demoscopic study and commission a new analysis and evaluation of the survey data. survey, for which approximately 1,000 people Additionally, special thanks are also due to over the age of 18 were interviewed in each Dan Diner for his commentary and review of the two countries in 2013. Because of of the findings. We would also like to thank the nature of the inquiry, the Israeli part of Roland Imhoff and Stephan Stetter for their the survey was limited to Jewish citizens. support in the development and evaluation Most, though not all, of the questions were of the questionnaire as well as TNS Emnid identical in both representative studies. Also in Germany and TNS Teleseker in Israel for available were the data from a 1991 survey conducting the surveys. commissioned by the magazine Der Spie- gel which, like the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Stephan Vopel surveys, sought to analyze and compare the Director Living Values Program attitudes and perceptions of Germans and Israelis. For some of the questions, therefore, comparisons over a longer time frame were possible. In order to verify whether attitudes in the German population had changed appreci- ably since the beginning of 2013, mainly due to the Gaza war in the summer of 2014, seven of the questions were asked again in a representative survey in Germany in October 2014. The results show that many attitudes remain relatively stable over time. However, the German population had a significantly lower opinion of Israel in October 2014 than at the time of the 2013 survey and seems to be increasingly frustrated and perplexed by the issue of whether to support Israel or the Palestinians. 9 Method 2.Method History and Holocaust The data were collected through telephone interviews, using a Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) system, according to the following parameters: Country Population Sample Size Dates of Fielding Germany 18+ 1,000 7-19/1/2013 Israel (Jews) 18+ 1,001 7-10/1/2013 Similar surveys were conducted in Israel and Germany in both 1991 and 2007 in cooperation with local partners TNS Teleseker; some of the questions were repeated here for tracking purposes (comparing data over time), while others were original. The German data were collected by TNS Emnid. Data collection in Ger- many began with a pilot study that was used to determine the proper proportions of landlines and mobile phones, and then a dual-frame method was used to reach samples of both landlines and mobile users. The survey results have a 90-percent confidence rate and the margin of error is +/–3 percent for n = 1,000. With reference to the Israeli data, it should be noted that Arab citizens of Israel were not surveyed. The Israeli sample included in this survey was limited to Jewish respondents, since the results regarding the relationship between the two countries are directly related to ethnicity. 10 Germany and Israel Today 11 1. The state and national identity 2.1. History The state and and Holocaust national identity The memory of the Holocaust has greatly “The memory of the affected the political culture of German and Holocaust has greatly affected Israeli society since World War II. Narratives of national identity had to relate to the per- the political culture of secution of the Jewish people in one way or German and Israeli society.” another. History therefore not only continues to shape self-awareness and constructions of collective identity, but also remains a neg- In Israel, the history of the Holocaust consti- ative reference point in bilateral relations. tuted an important narrative of justification After World War II, German society experi- for the founding of the state in that, accor- enced a rupture of identity: The Holocaust ding to the Zionist leadership, the destruc- made it difficult to identify with the nation tion of Europe’s Jewry was the ultimate in an unambiguously positive way.