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133 Although the growing European Jewish community is ambitious, it still lives in the shadow of Israel and the United States. The internal development and sustainability of Jewish communities on the Continent are dependent on these two powers, even as European Jews establish themselves as a larger and more diverse community, unified through their commitment to a new Europe. The strength of the United States and Israel lies, of course, not only in their numbers. It is also maintained by America’s singular global political and economic status and Israel’s historical and moral role as the homeland of the Jewish people. But what influence do these “super-powers” have specifically on Germany’s Jews, a diaspora that has a special place in the minds of the Jewish world? In 2001, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen quoted former Israeli ambassador to Germany Avi Primor in an article entitled “Israel’s Ties with Germany Elude U.S. Jews.” “[Primor] travels regularly to the United States to tell American Jewish groups how good Israeli-German ties have become; ‘Their reaction . . . is often one of shock, pain, and indignation. They want to preserve Germany in their minds as a negative nation.’”1 Although the Iraq war has tarnished the alliance, Germany has traditionally been America’s best friend in Europe. However, most Americans do not know that Germany is also Israel’s best friend on the Continent. Highlighting Primor, this article by a prominent Jewish-American journalist seems, in fact, to reproach American Jews for their inability to follow Israel ’s lead in recognizing Germany’s positive relationship to the Jewish people. In short, if Israel can appreciate Germany then why can’t American Jews? Although the United States periodically criticizes Israel and even makes political suggestions that are unpopular in Israel, America’s 7 T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d I s r a e l S U P E R - P O W E R I N G G E R M A N J E W I S H I D E N T I T I E S commitment to Israel is a given, no matter which political party is in power. For Germany, the same holds true. This triangular multilateral relationship of the United States, Germany, and Israel, of course, has many dimensions, some of which often burden their rapport. For example, the Second Intifada plays out in Germany and on its Jewish population. This is especially the case when Jews in Germany are literally made surrogate whipping boys for Israel or when criticism of Israel turns anti-Semitic by using the vocabulary and symbolism of German Nazism to describe Israeli politics or the prime minister himself. German-American relations have also been affected by Germany’s stance on the American-led war in Iraq that has stirred up the Middle East and hinges on Israel’s security. If Israel, along with the Holocaust, has indeed become a kind of “civic religion” for many American Jews, as some observers claim, then obviously Germany and its Jewish population must figure prominently into this equation. For one side, they represent a betrayal, and for another, proof of Hitler’s failure to eradicate the Jews. Since its defeat in World War II, and subsequent rebuilding economically and politically with American aid, Germany has also developed a complicated yet committed relationship to Israel. Its policy of providing military and economic assistance has obviously largely been shaped by a sense of moral obligation. An agreement on restitution, known as “Wiedergutmachung,” literally “making good again” (in Hebrew shulumim) was concluded by Germany’s first postwar chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, with the State of Israel and the Conference on Material Claims against Germany in the Luxembourg Reparations Agreement of 1952. This plan initiated what would come to be known as the “special relationship” to Israel. But it is also clear that this financial plan was pragmatically orchestrated to prove Germany’s commitment to the Atlantic Alliance and rehabilitation as a worthy future democratic ally. Lily Gardner-Feldman has noted: “To Adenauer the key foreign policy goal was the return of German sovereignty on the basis of equality.”2 Germany and Israel, even before diplomatic relations were established in 1965, have been thickly intertwined since the 1950s at all levels of exchange, not only militarily. This was the case, no matter whether individual personalities were particularly close, such as Adenauer and...

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