Berlin.
Ron Presor, Israeli Ambassador in Berlin, on the attitude towards Russia and the new, far-right government in his country.
Ron Prosor, the new Israeli Ambassador in Germany, has been in office since summer 2022. When the Berlin Wall fell, he was an employee of the embassy – still in Bonn at the time – and was often on the road in the new federal states. He praises the construction of the East, looks hopefully at the protests in Iran and says that Israel is doing more for Ukraine than is generally perceived.
Mr. Ambassador, you know Germany since reunification. How has the country changed?
Ron Prosor: I think the Germans don’t really perceive their own development. Because I was in Germany after the fall of the Wall and am here again now, I can really see what happened in Thuringia, Saxony and other East German countries. It’s fantastic, that’s my observation. The Germans and the Israelis just like to complain. But I can really say: the construction of the East is an achievement that you can really be proud of.
Friday was Memorial Day. see one growing anti-Semitism in Germany?
Prosor: Germany has a clear stance on anti-Semitism coming from the right and knows what to do about it. There is agreement that action must be taken to counteract this – in public, in the media, in the police and in the judiciary. That works fine. Left anti-Semitism, on the other hand, is more problematic. He seems to be becoming increasingly socially acceptable. Just one example: the Documenta. Does it really take seven professors to conclude that depicting a Jew with a hooked nose wearing a yarmulke sitting on a bag of money is anti-Semitic? Or the image of a pig with a Jewish star? There have been many academic debates about artistic and cultural freedom. But you have to take a look at who is debating with whom. It’s like having a law and order debate – and the participants would be Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson and the Cannibal of Rotenburg. One must not allow the borders to shift bit by bit and left-wing anti-Semitism to reach mainstream society.
Has anti-Semitism in Germany solidified?
Prosor: I would like to put it this way: The fact that in the year 2023 every synagogue, every Jewish school will be guarded, that Jews are afraid to go out on the street with a yarmulke – that is abnormal. The fact that we now perceive this as normal is outrageous.
Read about it:Israel’s President Herzog warns of ‘subtle anti-Semitism’
Israel provides humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. But there is no military aid, although President Zelenskyy, who is also Jewish, has asked Israel to do so. Why?
Prosor: It is not quite that easy. We have the Russians in Syria. As you know, the Israeli army regularly blocks arms shipments from Iran to Syria and Lebanon. These include Iranian drones and missiles that Russia is using in Ukraine. So we help – albeit behind the scenes and much more than is known. We also have a large Jewish community in Russia. Those are the two main reasons we’re keeping a low profile.
Ukraine Crisis – The most important news about the war
Could Israel Iranian drone replenishment block completely?
Prosor: no
The USA, Germany and many other European countries are now shipping main battle tank to Ukraine. Can this war develop into a really big war?
Putin is unpredictable. Therefore, there is always a risk that the war will escalate further. Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke of a turning point. I think Germany and Europe have understood that you have to defend yourself in order to preserve the values of a democratic state. We in Israel have known this since the founding of our state.
What can Germany and Europe learn from Israel?
Prosor: Military planning requires foresight. Considerations should not be made now for this or the next conflict, but for the conflicts in five or ten years. Just one example: Europa has nine or ten different tanks. Whether that makes sense is for others to decide.
There is one in Iran uprising of the people against their own government. Do the people have a chance to overthrow the regime?
Prosor: I think this uprising is different from the uprisings before because the young generation doesn’t want to live under these mullahs and ayatollahs. There is great power from that. Yes, there is that chance. It won’t happen tomorrow I guess. But the change will come from within. There is great hope from this. If Iran gets a different government, everything changes – in the entire region.
Also read:German father in court in Iran – death penalty threatened
through the protests nuclear talks with Iran were frozen. Is this nuclear deal dead?
Prosor: I hope so. But you can’t be sure.
Iran continues to enrich uranium. How far is the regime from the atomic bomb away?
Prosor: The Iranians have come a long way in two areas: They have enriched enough uranium. And they have enough rockets too. What they really still lack are the warheads. I don’t know how much longer it will take.
Israel has an extreme right government. Now Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition wants to lay the ax to the judiciary. Parliament should be able to overrule Supreme Court decisions. President Herzog speaks of a “historic constitutional crisis”. How could this happen?
Prosor: There are many who believe that the judiciary needs reform. There is a lot of debate about how far-reaching they should be. Not everything that is discussed now will also be implemented. But you have to endure the discussion about it.
Sit in the Israeli government radical politicianswho despise homosexuals, who want more gender segregation in public space, who plan to massively expand settlement construction in the occupied territories. Can you imagine Nancy Faeser sitting next to controversial Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at government consultations?
Prosor: This government is democratically elected. And not everything that is perceived as a provocation is actually one. It’s worth taking a close look. Jews have the right to go to the Temple Mount just like Christians and Muslims. They don’t even want to call the Temple Mount that. For them, this is an admission that the Jews have a historical connection to Jerusalem. In international forums, they advocate that their designation Haram al-Sharif is only the official term.
The federal government and the EU are in favor of one Two State Solution a. Is that still conceivable for this Israeli government?
Prosor: The two-state solution is not off the table. If it is demanded, a Jewish-democratic state will of course be demanded. One hardly hears the call for a democratic Palestinian state. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas could send a signal and finally let people vote again in a very democratic way.
Israel has on Friday Rockets from Gaza intercepted and responded with airstrikes. How dangerous is the situation? How can an escalation be prevented?
Prosor: First of all, it must be made clear: Israel withdrew from Gaza, never to return to Gaza. The equation is: if there is calm in Israel, there will be calm in Gaza. But if Hamas terrorizes the Israeli people with rockets, then Israel has the right to defend itself. Hamas has set up a terrorist state in Gaza.
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