Israel worried about 'talk against Jews' in Germany
JERUSALEM, May 27 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, receiving the leader of the German liberal Free Democrats (FDP), said on Monday he was concerned about "talk against" Germany's remnant Jewish community.
FDP party chief Guido Westerwelle was paying what he called a visit to reaffirm Germany's friendship with Israel after the FDP's deputy leader accused Sharon of stirring anti-Jewish sentiment by his tough military action against Palestinians.
The Central Council of German Jews has demanded an apology from Juergen Moellemann for saying Israel was "trampling over international law" and that the council's deputy head was fuelling anti-Jewish feelings in Germany with his "intolerant and spiteful manner."
Sharon said Israel wanted to strengthening ties with Germany, which have been generally good since they were re-established in the 1960s, 20 years after the collapse of Hitler's Nazi Third Reich which killed about six million Jews.
"Of course we are concerned by expressions of anti-Semitism and talk against the Jewish community in Germany," he told reporters with Westerwelle seated beside him before their talks in Jerusalem.
"We are in the midst of a tough battle, a security campaign, a political campaign, an economic campaign," the right-wing premier said, referring to the pressures Israel has felt in battling a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings.
"Germany itself, the German government is one of the friendly governments towards Israel. It is one of Israel's closest friends in Europe," Sharon said.
"But of course any expression of anti-Semitism -- steps taken or actions or words -- against the Jewish community cause us concern. I hope we will reach a situation whereby there will be in Europe in general, and in Germany, a different atmosphere."
LOST LINCHPIN ROLE
Westerwelle, who has just taken over the pro-business FDP four years after it lost its role as the linchpin of German ruling coalitions, said it was important for Germans to say that "every Israeli has the right to live a secure life in his or her country.
"That is why we as the centre party in Germany want to say very precisely that no way can terrorism be excused and no way can terror attacks on the population be (excused).
"It is self evident that anti-Semitism, wherever it occurs, must be fought very fiercely. It's not only a lesson from our own history but a requirement of human dignity that every democrat has understood."
The remarks by the controversial Moellemann were unusually harsh in a country where World War Two guilt has long mandated unstinting public backing for the Jewish state and sensitivity towards the tiny Jewish community in Germany.
Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has called the Free Democrats, wiped out in the 1998 election after decades as the junior party in government, now unfit to govern.
He said the FDP's attempt in the run-up to a September general election to fish for votes in "murky waters" of the right matched a dangerous trend emerging in Europe.
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said Moellemann was engaging in right-wing populism similar to that of Austria's Joerg Haider or murdered Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn.
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