The day DW interviews Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, is a day like no other. It is the day when Israel remembers its fallen soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks on 21 April every year.
Israel is still under pressure, says Prosor at the beginning of the interview conducted by DW’s Berlin correspondent Simon Young, with attacks still coming 78 years after its founding.
“It’s a very special day today and just think: You walked into the Israeli Embassy here in Berlin, and you saw how much security we have around us. And it really emphasizes how Israeli embassies are [and] “Israeli diplomats have to work abroad.”
Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the country has been in a practically constant state of war, says Prosor.
Ambassador: Europe is also at risk from Iranian weapons
On Memorial Day, many Israelis remember those who made it possible for people in Israel to live in freedom and democracy, Prosor said.
But Remembrance Day comes as Israel faces heavy criticism around the world, including in Germany, over the war in Gaza and attacks on Iran and Lebanon this year.
Prosor first talks about the US-Israeli war with Iran. “For years, Europe or the world has been negotiating with the Iranians. And not only did it stop Iran’s nuclear program, but it also did not stop the ballistic missiles produced in Iran. [were moved] Even Moscow.” He said, Russia is using them in Ukraine and thus threatening Europe’s backyard.
As for Israel, the ambassador says, Iran poses an existential threat to the country. “The mullahs and ayatollahs are basically saying [that it is their] The policy of destroying the State of Israel, the policy of destroying the State of Israel. I think we all need to learn that this ideology is deadly. we saw that ideology [the Islamist militant group] Hamas. We saw that ideology with Hezbollah. And Iran.”
Have the countless military operations conducted since October 7, 2023 – when Hamas began incursions into southern Israel – really making the country safer? The prosecutor has a clear answer: “What does this area look like? For the first time in Lebanon, a government without Hezbollah. [Syria’s former leader] Bashar Assad drinking vodka in Moscow. Mullahs and Ayatollahs have become weak in Iran, [former Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah [is dead] and Hezbollah and Hamas [are] weak. “Now we have an opportunity to really transform this sector.”
Prosecutor on two-state solution: German politicians talk ‘like parrots’
But Israel’s relations with Germany are strained at the moment: the last German-Israeli government consultations took place eight years ago. The German government repeatedly criticizes the Israeli government, warning it against further attacks in Lebanon that would prevent ending the war against Iran. Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip have faced widespread criticism from politicians in Berlin, as has the violence perpetrated by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“There are many differences between Israel and Germany. So we can focus on that, but we can also focus on the glass-half-full side,” Prosser says.
He lists German politicians who visited Israel after Hamas’ October 7 attacks. “The President, the Foreign Minister, the Chancellor, the Chairman of the Foreign Committee, the Speaker of the Bundestag – incomparable with other European countries.”
The ambassador then brings up the topic of a two-state solution, calling for a secure State of Israel and an equally secure Palestinian state. Prosser says he sees “a lot of politicians basically parroting: the two-state solution.”
‘Only a strong Israel can achieve peace’
The ambassador points out that, during his tenure as head of Israel’s Foreign Service between 2004 and 2007, he was involved in Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. At that time, he was one of those who hoped to achieve a peaceful solution.
“I believed in it,” he said. “I think many Israelis believed it.”
The situation changed after the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023. “We will do everything, on the one hand, [to] Reach out to all who truly want peace with us. On the other hand, [we will] Keep the shield of David very close to your chest, because only a strong Israel, a very strong Israel, can achieve peace in this region.”
The Star of David, known as the Shield of David in Hebrew, is an accepted symbol that represents both Jewish identity and Judaism.
Prosecutor: Merz should have more tact
Finally, Prosor addresses a current dispute between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
After a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Meraz expressed concern that Israel could move ahead with “the de facto annexation of the West Bank.” In response, Smotrich posted a statement on Twitter: “Mr. Chancellor, the days are over when Germans dictated to Jews where they were allowed or forbidden to live.”
During the DW interview, Prosser tries to calm the situation. He has defended the chancellor as a friend of Israel and told DW that Merz made his statement on Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, of all days.
“What’s important here is the day it was said. And I think that’s why the minister came forward, because it was said on Holocaust Memorial Day. And that’s ‘touching’ [tact, or sensitivity]. You can say the same thing a day later.”
This article was originally published in German.