April 30, 2011 – Washington – “Israel’s security today is part of Germany’s raison d’être,” German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière told the AJC 2011 Global Forum. “This is a principle that determines our political action. It is also our response to our history.”

Maziere addressed the global Jewish advocacy organization’s annual gala Thursday night on his first visit to the United States since he assumed the post of defense minister. In the audience of more than 1700 was a large delegation, including a German officer, all in uniform, from Israel’s National Defense College.

“It is living proof of the strong links that have been forged between the Bundeswehr and the Israel Defense Forces,” said Maizière. “It also shows how vibrant are the relations between Germany and Israel today.”

The defense minister praised the close relationship between AJC and Germany, which began shortly after World War Il at the governmental level, and over the decades has expanded to civil society and the military. “The AJC and the Bundeswehr have been longstanding partners for 17 years,” he said.

Maizière spoke about the importance of the transatlantic partnership, the shared role of the U.S. and Europe in furthering global stability and how the current turmoil across the Arab world presents opportunities to build democratic societies in that critical region.

“The U.S. should consider that Europe remains in the long run the most stable and the most predictable partner in the world,” said Maizière. Emphasizing the pivotal role of the transatlantic partnership, he added that “we Europeans should not cultivate any intellectual and arrogant anti-Americanism.”

The defense minister suggested that an active transatlantic partnership “can have a stabilizing effect” in the Middle East and North Africa by encouraging and promoting the build-up of new and hopefully democratic structures.”

But he also raised questions about longstanding European polices in the Middle East. “We need to ask ourselves whether we took the easy way out in some occasions in the past. We need to ask ourselves whether we failed to hear the call for freedom the way we should have. And we need to ask ourselves whether we were too preoccupied with our own economic interests,” Maizière said.

Looking ahead, the defense minister stressed that “the spirit of freedom cannot be suppressed in the long run,” though achieving liberty and democracy will take time and face innumerable hurdles.

“The power of the ideas of freedom and democracy is greater than the powerlessness against the regime,’ said Maizière. “In the times of Facebook, Twitter and social networks, these notions spread more rapidly and defy the force of censorship.”

While acknowledging that the international community faces “tremendous challenges” in dealing with the unfolding situations in a growing number of Arab countries, he also emphasized that “the establishment of a new order in which human and civil rights are respected is first and foremost the responsibility of the people themselves.” 

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