German chancellor earns standing ovation for saying Germany will stand by Israel

JERUSALEM -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel earned a standing ovation from Israel's parliament Tuesday after pledging to stand by Israel's side against any threat, particularly from Iran, and paying tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.

In an emotional speech, Merkel said Germans are still "filled with shame" about the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews. Yet her extraordinarily warm reception by the Jewish state also signaled that the two nations are increasingly willing to look to the future.

Germany has proven a staunch ally of Israel, particularly since Merkel became chancellor in 2005. Israel's leaders said they are counting on Germany to take a lead in diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

"I think that we were able to open a new chapter in German-Israeli relations," Merkel later told Germany's n-tv television, brushing aside suggestions that her strong support for Israel could make Germany appear biased against the Palestinians. "We're on Israel's side and despite that, and perhaps because of that, on the side of the peace process," she said.

Most Israelis appeared to be indifferent. For the first two days of Merkel's stay, newscasts were dominated by the economic crisis in the United States and its local effects. However, on Tuesday, the opening sentence of her Knesset speech, in which she thanked lawmakers in heavily accented Hebrew for the "great honor" to address them, got top billing.

Israel and Germany established diplomatic ties in 1965, two decades after the end of World War II. Since then, Germany has become Israel's second-largest trading partner, and has paid $40 billion in reparations to Holocaust survivors in Israel.

On Monday, the two nations deepened their ties by agreeing to annual consultations of their two Cabinets. It's a first for Israel, though Germany has a similar arrangement with five other countries.

Merkel's parliament speech was the emotional highlight of her three-day trip. She was given a red-carpet welcome, with the German national flag raised over parliament. About 1,000 guests attended the special session, including Holocaust survivors, Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, and residents of Israeli towns targeted by Gaza rocket fire.

In her speech, Merkel started by paying tribute to those killed by Nazi Germany during World War II.

"The mass murder of 6 million Jews, carried out in the name of Germany, has brought indescribable suffering to the Jewish people, Europe and the entire world," she said.

"The Shoah fills us Germans with shame," she said, using the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. "I bow before the victims. I bow before the survivors and before all those who helped them survive."

Merkel said Germany would always stand by Israel, and promised to be vigilant about Iran's nuclear program. "If Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, it would have disastrous consequences," she said. "We have to prevent this."

"Especially in this place, I emphasize: Every German government and every chancellor before me was committed to the special responsibility Germany has for Israel's security," she said.

"This historic responsibility is part of my country's fundamental policy. It means that for me, as a German chancellor, Israel's security is non-negotiable," she added.

Introducing Merkel, Israeli leaders appealed to her to do everything she could to stop Iran's nuclear program.

Israel believes Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, a fear underscored by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's frequent calls for Israel's destruction. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert praised Merkel's "strong and determined position against the horrific calls from the president of Iran to wipe Israel off the map and against Tehran's trickery and deceit."

Parliament speaker Dalia Itzik stated her case in dramatic terms. "From here, from the home of the survivors, I call on you to hold out your hand to us and to all of humanity in an effort to remove this death sentence from the world," she said, "to do everything possible, and even more, to withhold from Iran that terrible weapon against us."

Born in 1954, nine years after the end of the war, Merkel grew up in former East Germany, the daughter of a pastor. In her speech, she referred to her former country's refusal to take responsibility for the Holocaust; until unification in 1990, that role was shouldered by West Germany alone.

She said communist East Germany considered the Nazi past a West German problem. "It took 40 years until the entire Germany ... acknowledged its responsibility for history and for the state of Israel," she said.

She expressed support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also said Israel does not need unsolicited advice from outsiders.

Germany, like other European nations, has little influence on the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks -- that's a role largely reserved for the U.S. -- but has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians over the past decade. Merkel did not meet Palestinian leaders during her current trip.