Netanyahu hits out at ‘insensitive’ German diplomacy

BERLIN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday slammed Germany’s foreign minister as ‘ insensitive’ over refusing to cancel meetings with rights groups critical of Israel’s government, amid rising tensions between the two allies.

Netanyahu had scrapped talks with Sigmar Gabriel at the last minute, after Germany’s top diplomat pressed on with plans to meet with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B’Tselem.

In an interview with Germany’s biggest selling Bild daily, Netanyahu defended his decision.

“Foreign diplomats are welcome to meet with civil society activists and members of the opposition and anyone else they’d like,” he said.

“But my red line is that I will not meet diplomats who come to Israel and lend legitimacy to fringe radical groups that falsely accuse our soldiers of war crimes and undermine Israeli security,” he added.

Pointing out that the meetings with the activist groups were held on a day when Israel was commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, Netanyahu said that “it was a particularly insensitive time to seek a meeting like this”.

“These are the days we mourn the murdered members of our people in the Holocaust and our fallen soldiers.

“The Israeli army is the one force that keeps our people safe today,” he said. — AFP