GERMANY:IN A historic first-ever address by a German chancellor to the Israeli parliament, Angela Merkel told Israeli lawmakers yesterday that the Holocaust fills her countrymen "with shame" and vowed to work against the danger of a nuclear Iran, saying Germany would always stand by Israel.
"The Shoah fills us Germans with shame," she said, using the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. "I bow to the victims. I bow to all those who helped the survivors."
Ms Merkel, who visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Monday, yesterday ended a highly symbolic three-day visit to Israel to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state, which came into existence in 1948 after six million Jews were killed by the Nazis in the second World War.
Ms Merkel began her address in Hebrew, thanking lawmakers for allowing her to speak "in my mother tongue", before delivering her address in German.
The decision by Israeli lawmakers to allow Ms Merkel to address parliament - usually this is an honour reserved for heads of state - and in German, drew protests from several lawmakers.
"I know the last sounds heard by my grandparents and my uncles whom I have not known were those of the German language," said Arieh Eldad, a member of the far-right National Union party who walked out of the plenum in protest.
But, with the German flag fluttering over parliament, the vast majority of lawmakers attended the session and gave the German leader a standing ovation at the end of her 20-minute address.
The 53-year-old Ms Merkel, who is the first chancellor to have been born after the second World War, said that like her predecessors she felt a "historical responsibility" for Israel's security.
During her address, Ms Merkel spoke of the need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But she did not criticise ongoing Israeli settlement construction at any point during her visit, saying only that it was a complex issue.
Throughout her stay, Ms Merkel heard calls from Israeli leaders for Germany to take determined action to halt Iran's nuclear programme. Israel believes Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons and prime minister Ehud Olmert praised the chancellor for what he said was her "strong and determined position against the horrific calls from the president of Iran to wipe Israel off the map and against Tehran's trickery and deceit".
While Israeli leaders have said in the past that "all options" are open regarding efforts to halt Iran's nuclear programme, Ms Merkel told the parliament yesterday that Germany was "setting its sights on a diplomatic solution, together with its partners".
She said the German government would, if Iran did not give in, resolutely defend sanctions.
Israel, which established diplomatic ties with Germany in 1965, views Germany as its staunchest ally in Europe.
Merkel was accompanied by half her cabinet and on Monday Israeli and German cabinet ministers held a joint session during which they signed an agreement for tighter military, political, economic and cultural cooperation.
Members of the Islamic Hamas movement accused Ms Merkel of turning a blind eye to what they called Israel's "holocaust" against the Palestinian people in Gaza.