Israel Foreign Relations West Germany

Chaim Herzog, the first president of Israel to visit West Germany, said here Monday at the site of a Nazi concentration camp that Jewish victims will never be forgotten. In a tribute to the people who died here, Herzog said: "The grief of your death will eternally be with us, not as a perpetual hatred, not as barren, paralyzing hostility, but as a call to strength and steadfastness.

Foreign Minister Moshe Arens, in a departure from recent Israeli statements, has said his nation need not fear a democratic, united Germany. In remarks broadcast by Israel Radio on Wednesday, Arens said no Jew could think about German reunification without remembering the Nazi Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were exterminated during World War II. But he said: "If that united Germany is a democratic Germany . . .

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin will visit West Germany in September, the Israeli Defense Ministry said Friday. The trip will be the first official visit of an Israeli defense chief to West Germany. West German Defense Minister Manfred Woerner last year became the first West German defense chief to visit the Jewish state.

West German officials, praising Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev's support for eventual German reunification, said Wednesday that a unified Germany would remain in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher said there would be no NATO troops in the eastern sector of a unified Germany but added that "we don't want a neutral Germany."

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, meeting in Bonn, urged the Soviet Union to help bring about peace between Jews and Arabs. In a joint statement, they also urged the Kremlin to allow citizens of Jewish and of German origin to leave the Soviet Union if they wish.

Foreign Minister Moshe Arens, in a departure from recent Israeli statements, has said his nation need not fear a democratic, united Germany. In remarks broadcast by Israel Radio on Wednesday, Arens said no Jew could think about German reunification without remembering the Nazi Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were exterminated during World War II. But he said: "If that united Germany is a democratic Germany . . .

West German officials, praising Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev's support for eventual German reunification, said Wednesday that a unified Germany would remain in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher said there would be no NATO troops in the eastern sector of a unified Germany but added that "we don't want a neutral Germany."

West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl told Israeli President Chaim Herzog on Tuesday that the West German people have a special responsibility for the security of Israel. In remarks at a luncheon for Herzog, Kohl said that responsibility stems from the Nazi-engendered Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews in Europe were killed. The 12 years of the Nazi regime, the chancellor declared, "is the darkest period in German history."

President Chaim Herzog of Israel entered a domestic political row here Thursday by speaking out against the possible sale of West German submarines to Saudi Arabia. Herzog, the first Israeli head of state to visit West Germany, said that this country has a special responsibility not to supply arms to enemies of the Jewish state. Also, just before paying a visit to the Berlin Wall, Herzog called on the Soviet Union to allow Jews who want to emigrate to Israel to do so.

A West German businessman recently freed by his kidnapers in Beirut was quoted Tuesday as saying that he does not know why he was seized nor why he was released last week. Alfred Schmidt, 47, an employee of the giant Siemens electronics company, was quoted by the Munich-based magazine Quick: "Our guards never told us why we were kidnaped or anything about the negotiations for our release. We also knew nothing about the Hamadi case."

A West German businessman recently freed by his kidnapers in Beirut was quoted Tuesday as saying that he does not know why he was seized nor why he was released last week. Alfred Schmidt, 47, an employee of the giant Siemens electronics company, was quoted by the Munich-based magazine Quick: "Our guards never told us why we were kidnaped or anything about the negotiations for our release. We also knew nothing about the Hamadi case."

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin will visit West Germany in September, the Israeli Defense Ministry said Friday. The trip will be the first official visit of an Israeli defense chief to West Germany. West German Defense Minister Manfred Woerner last year became the first West German defense chief to visit the Jewish state.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, meeting in Bonn, urged the Soviet Union to help bring about peace between Jews and Arabs. In a joint statement, they also urged the Kremlin to allow citizens of Jewish and of German origin to leave the Soviet Union if they wish.

President Chaim Herzog of Israel entered a domestic political row here Thursday by speaking out against the possible sale of West German submarines to Saudi Arabia. Herzog, the first Israeli head of state to visit West Germany, said that this country has a special responsibility not to supply arms to enemies of the Jewish state. Also, just before paying a visit to the Berlin Wall, Herzog called on the Soviet Union to allow Jews who want to emigrate to Israel to do so.

West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl told Israeli President Chaim Herzog on Tuesday that the West German people have a special responsibility for the security of Israel. In remarks at a luncheon for Herzog, Kohl said that responsibility stems from the Nazi-engendered Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews in Europe were killed. The 12 years of the Nazi regime, the chancellor declared, "is the darkest period in German history."

Chaim Herzog, the first president of Israel to visit West Germany, said here Monday at the site of a Nazi concentration camp that Jewish victims will never be forgotten. In a tribute to the people who died here, Herzog said: "The grief of your death will eternally be with us, not as a perpetual hatred, not as barren, paralyzing hostility, but as a call to strength and steadfastness.