Germany and Israel: Love, Tolerance, or Opposition?
What a day! With a Bible Study tonight (hello, Columbians!), a date with 700 miles of U.S. interstate tomorrow morning, and a “Must Do Today” list of 15 items that seems to be growing instead of shrinking, I’m afraid that I won’t be writing much today. We leave for Texas and then for the conference (Yay!) in Charlotte this week, and I will try to write occasionally if I have internet access.
But for today, I will just add some links that were passed on to me. For those who are interested in the state of German-Israeli relations (and prophecy students who watch for conditions related to the fulfillment of prophecies in Daniel 11 and 9), Der Spiegel has had several articles worth reading, prompted by the 60th anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Israel. I post just two of them, but there are others linked to on the website pages that might be worth reading as well.
- The World from Berlin: “Something is Rotten in the State of Israel”
- Israel’s 60th Anniversary: “The Poisoned Congratulations of German Know-It-Alls”
Reading these, you might get the sense that there is a bit of a case of “split personality” regarding Germany’s attitude toward Israel. And I think you would be right. I note the contrasting titles of two articles linked to at the bottom of those pages in Spiegel Online: One titled “Merkel in the Knesset: ‘We Would Never Abandon Israel’” and one titled “New Survey Undermines Official Policy: Most Germans Feel no Responsibility for Israel.“
Prophecy tells of how things will ultimately go, but even when you know you are standing at Point A and headed to Point B, the possible roads twixt here and there can still be very intriguing!
Ministers deserve all the respect due them. One pastor told me over dinner, ‘you get pulled in ten different directions; then you have ten other things to do, besides.’ Very similar to what you said. Thanks for the work, Mr Smith.
Dear Mr. Smith,
Have a great (and productive) trip!
Great German minds have often remarked on the “split personality” of the Germans in other ways — notably the split between the noble, highly cultured side and the ruthless and warmongering side. Any surprise that this characterized their ancestors the ancient Assyrians also?
If public sentiment in Germany is contrary to official policy, how little would it take to get official leadership in line with public sentiment, and then to exploit that sentiment? How many times has such a thing happened in history? Too many.
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