Two out of three Germans believe that, 60 years after its foundation, Israel is today "a state like any other", and that Germany's period of atonement for the Holocaust should be over, according to a survey published by the 'Berliner Zeitung newspaper.' According to the poll, sixty-four per cent of Germans believe that Israel does not have a 'special status', against 33 per cent who think the opposite. More than half of respondents said Israel should not play a particular role in German foreign policy, while around a third believe it should - because of Germany’s responsibility for the Holocaust.
The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knoblauch, warned in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung against a strengthening of anti-Israeli sentiments in the country while emphasizing that relations continued to be positive. "There are certain people who more and more tend to reject Israel," she said. The German government is one of Israel's staunchest supporters in Europe. In March, German chancellor Angela Merkel brought half of her government to Jerusalem for an unprecedented meeting with Israeli ministers. She also addressed the Knesset.
