BERLIN – The German Foreign Ministry vehemently opposed calling Jerusalemthe capital of the Jewish state on Friday in a written reply to a questionfrom a member of parliament.
When asked by MP Petr Bystron, from the populist far-Right partyAlternative for Germany, “What is the name of the capital of Israel (pleaseonly answer with location name)?” Niels Annen, a State Minister in theForeign Ministry, declined to name Jerusalem. Annen dodged the question andsaid: “As a matter of principle, every state has the right to determine acity within its territory to be its capital.” Bystron is the foreign policyspokesman for the Alternative for Germany.
The Jerusalem Post obtained a copy of the letter in which Annen deniedJerusalem is the capital of Israel.
Annen, a member of the Social Democratic Party, wrote in the letter toBystron that Israel declared in 1980 in its Basic Law that Jerusalem is the“completed and united” capital city of the Jewish state. He said Germanyalong with the international community does not recognize Israel’sabsorption of Jerusalem into its territory after the 1967 Six Day War.Annen cited the United Nations General Assembly resolution 478 from 1980that said Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a “violation of internationallaw.”
Annen wrote that “Federal government is of the view that the status ofJerusalem, just like other final status issues, can only be clarified innegotiations.” He added that the German government supports the EuropeanCouncil’s conclusions that the “Israelis and Palestinians must find innegotiations a solution for Jerusalem as the future capital of both states.”
Andreas Nahles, then General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party,declared in 2012 that the party has “shared values” and “common goals” withthe Palestinian Fatah party.
The Social Democratic Party’s former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel termedIsrael an “apartheid regime.” Gabriel said last week that he regrettedusing the pejorative phrase and would not repeat it. The US and EUdesignated terrorist organizations praised Gabriel in January for slammingIsrael.
The SPD’s Willy Brandt headquarters in Berlin held a Breaking the Silenceexhibit in 2012 where former German foreign minister Steinmeier praised thegroup’s work. Breaking the Silence uses anonymous sources to defame theIDF, according to critics in Israel. Steinmeier, who is currently theGerman president, has met with six left-wing NGOs, including TerrestrialJerusalem, B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence and Machsom Watch.