Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock hopes to revitalize the Middle East peace process that has laid mostly dormant since 2014.
She will kick off on Thursday a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Egypt.
The agenda includes a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial that honors the millions of Jews killed by the Nazis.
Baerbock will then meet with her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
She will also visit the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the West Bank and meet with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki, Germany’s official news agency reported.
“Even though the Middle East conflict is a crisis that for many has always been simmering, we cannot accept it as the status quo. Every individual has the right to hold on to hope – especially the hope for peace,” she said before her trip to the Middle East.
She welcomed several steps that have been recently taken by the new Israeli government to bring Israelis and Palestinians closer.
“We stand by our special historical responsibility for Israel’s security and will continue to work to this end in a spirit of solidarity.”
She affirmed that Germany abides by the goal of a negotiated two-state solution, stressing that to achieve this, there has to be a functional, democratic and sovereign Palestinian state in the future.
In her new role as a foreign minister, Baerbock said she is eager to become better acquainted personally with Israel and its people.
“It is nothing short of a miracle that in our two countries young people particularly are now so close to one another,” she said.
She underlined the importance of promoting increased exchange among young people in order to “safeguard this treasure for future generations – as a firm foundation on which to build our relations in the future and as an obligation never to allow our responsibility for the terrors of the Holocaust to be forgotten.”
Baerbock is expected to depart to Jordan Thursday evening, before heading later on Saturday to Egypt.
Jordan and Egypt have a special role to play as Israel’s direct neighbors and the oldest peace treaty partners.
