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GERMANV
and
ISRAEL-
A Unique Relationship
W
HO WOULD
have suspected that
less than one generat ion f rom
the gruesome, methodical
Nazi murders of sorne six million Jews
a striking political and economic mar–
riage could have arisen between West
Germany and Israel
?
Such a close bond secmed so incred–
ible that it led Shimon Peres, former
Director-General of the Israelí Ministry
of Defense, to say: "Our relations with
Germany ... presented one of the most
unusual moral and political challenges
that international d iplomacy had ever
known ."
Relationship Grows
In spite of the challenges a ve ry defi–
nite relationship has grown and devel–
.:>ped. Due largely to responsible d iplo–
macy by leaders on both sides, a number
of major accomplishments have taken
place. The Luxembourg T reaty was
signed in September of 1952. It was
then agreed that over a 12-year period,
West Germany would pay S821,000,-
000 in goods to the Israelí government.
A large portion of this - $12/f,000,-
000 - was in the form of
49
ships,
which have provided the backbone of
Israel's modero merchant navy of sorne
66
ships. While approximately
%
of
the reparations payments were in the
form of goods and machinery,
%
was
in cash specified to be used for oil pur–
chases through British fi rms. With more
by
Raymond Kosanke
than 500,000 Jewish refugees to re–
settle, these reparations have played a
major role in putting Israel on its
economic feet.
As ooe leading Israelí newspapcr
described the period into the early six–
t ies : " Jt is d ifficult to imagine the devel–
opment of the Israelí economy in the
Last decade without reparations."
In addition, since the early sixties,
West Germany has given Israel eco–
nomic aid amounting to some $35 mil -
lion yearly. With the machinery and
goods given under the reparations
agreement, combined with the yearly
economic aid, Israel has found itself
increasingly dependent upon the Ger–
man economy. Millions of dollars worth
of sparc parts and services are needed
each year to maintain the equipment
already operating in Israel.
Far greater than any other type of
West German aid to Israel, bowever, is
restitution to individual Israelis for
Wide
World Photo
A CLOSER BOND
-
Former Israelí Premier David Ben-Gurion chats
informally with then-Chancellor of West Germany Konrad Adenauer in
March of
1960.
At that time the two heads of state began to form
closer economic ties, based primarily on war reparations by West Germany.