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Chancellor distances herself from minister Mideast remarks

Updated: 31/Aug/2006 16:45

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German overseas development

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BERLIN (AFP)--- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday distanced herself from remarks by a cabinet minister about Israel’s offensive on Lebanon which have infuriated Germany’s Jewish community.

Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said Overseas Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul was not speaking for the chancellor when she called for a UN investigation into claims that Israel used carpet bombs in the campaign.

"It was not an opinion reached after consultation with the government. It is not the opinion of the chancellor," he said.

The remark, which was based on allegations by Human Rights Watch, has seen the Central Council of Jews in Germany accuse the minister of bias and stirring up anti-Jewish sentiment.

Merkel met late Wednesday with leaders of the council to reassure the German Jewish community that the minister was expressing a personal opinion and not that of the German government.

The council’s president, Charlotte Knobloch, has attacked Wieczorek-Zeul for a visit to Beirut last week as part of Germany’s pledge to help rebuild Lebanon following the devastating 34-day-long Israeli offensive to rout Hezbollah militia.

No Israel visit

"The least she could have done was to visit Israel first. She should have reached out first to the attacked, not the attackers," she said.

Her deputy, Salomon Korn, told the Frankfurter Rundschau: "The call for a UN probe was another knee-jerk reaction from the minister towards Israel."

If Wieczorek-Zeul wanted a UN probe this should also take into account the fact that Israeli citizens have for years come under rocket fire from Lebanese soil, he added.

The row has highlighted differences of opinion in Merkel’s power sharing left-right government on the Middle East.

When the war in Lebanon erupted, the conservative Merkel pointed out that Hezbollah had started the trouble by seizing Israeli soldiers.

Though Merkel urged restraint she did not join calls by other European leaders for an immediate ceasefire or criticise Israel’s use of force as excessive.

Spokesman Wilhelm on Wednesday again pointed out that Germany believed it held a historical responsibility towards Israel because of the Holocaust, and said all government ministers respected this policy.
"There is no disagreement on this point," he said.

Wieczorek-Zeul had not broken with it by calling for a UN probe, nor was she anti-Israeli, he added.
She is a member of the Social Democrats, like Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and is known for lashing out at human rights abuses regardless who may have committed them.

Steinmeier, who would like to help broker a long-term peace deal in the Middle East, came in for criticism from the Jewish council at the start of the war when he suggested that Israel’s offensive might be disproportionate.

Day in history

24 July 1934
The Nazis attempt to overthrow the Austrian government. Chancellor Dollfus is assassinated, but the putsch failed and Kurt von Schuschnigg was appointed Chancellor. He in turn tried his best to curtail Nazi influence in Austria.