Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to visit Israel
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is going to Israel for a snap visit on Tuesday as war rages in Europe.It comes after Israel's Foreign Minster Yair Lapid spoke with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, about Israel's offer of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The visit is significant because of Germany's anti-semitic past. Israel will always be marked by the Shoah, Nazi Germany's mass murder of 6 million Jews. And yet the relationship has developed impressively since 1965, the year full diplomatic relations were established between the two countries. Just a few weeks ago, German media were openly asking "where is Scholz?", slamming the Social Democrat's perceived lack of leadership on pressing issues like the coronavirus pandemic and worsening Ukraine crisis.But Moscow's attack on Ukraine last week has jolted the chancellor into action, culminating in what commentators have called a "historic" speech on Sunday.Addressing an emergency parliamentary session, Scholz told the nation that "we are now in a new era". In a country haunted by post-war guilt, Scholz assured Germans that they were "on the right side of history" as Ukraine's allies.After facing criticism for refusing to send weapons to Kyiv, unlike other Western allies, Scholz said Berlin will supply Ukraine with 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles from Bundeswehr stocks.Berlin also approved the delivery of 400 RPGs from the Netherlands and a request by Estonia to pass on old GDR howitzers to Ukraine.