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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday said she felt a moral duty to protect Israel and would stand firm in the face of Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its threats to wipe the Jewish state off the map.

After receiving a prestigious award from the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Merkel said the prize gave her a responsibility to fight racism and to foster close ties between Germans and the Jewish community. “It means intervening to protect the safety of Israel today and in the future, as well as our common values of democracy and the rule of law.” The chancellor, who received the Leo Baeck Prize in Berlin, said Germany only fully accepted its role in the Holocaust after reunification because the communist East German regime rejected moral responsibility for the crimes of the Nazis.

“It took more than 40 years for Germany as a whole to accept the responsibility it carries to ensure the safety of Israel,” Merkel said. “Only by accepting Germany’s past can we lay the foundation for the future. Only in as far as we acknowledge our responsibility for the moral catastrophe of Germany’s history, can we build a humane future.” She said the country pay could not merely pay lip service to these principles but will be judged on how firmly it reacts to breaches inside its borders but also beyond them. “How firmly do we react when the Iranian president wants to destroy Israel and to belittle the Holocaust?” Merkel said Germany would celebrate the upcoming 60th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state with joy but not without fear. “I believe that in the face of the threat Iran’s nuclear programme poses to Israel, our responsibility must be more than empty words.

These words must be backed up by deeds. My government will follow its words with action.” She reiterated her support for tougher UN sanctions against Iran if it fails to comply with the demands of the international community to halt sensitive nuclear work. “We and our partners are working towards a diplomatic solution. Part of this process is a readiness on the part of Germany to agree to wider, stricter sanctions if Iran does not comply.” Merkel flies to the United States later this week for talks with US President George W. Bush expected to focus on how to resolve the Iranian crisis. Iran denies Western accusations that its nuclear programme is a cover for developing atomic weapons.

Source: AFP