There has been a heated debate in Israel over judicial reform for months. Now the German ambassador has also found himself caught between the fronts. But Berlin has his back despite diplomatic protests.
The Foreign Office in Berlin has defended German Ambassador Steffen Seibert against criticism from the Israeli government. “Following relevant political, including domestic, developments in the host country is a central task of diplomats,” said a ministry spokeswoman on Monday.
Israel had previously officially protested against Seibert’s recent participation as a spectator in a Supreme Court deliberation on the controversial judicial reform. According to media reports, this was classified in Israel as interference in internal political issues. A high-ranking diplomatic official expressed the Israeli protest in a conversation with Seibert on the instructions of Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Israel’s embassy in Berlin said on Monday in response to a request from the German Press Agency.
Confusion about protest note
The embassy also said that similar messages had also been transmitted verbally to the Foreign Office in Berlin. At least the existence of an official protest note had previously been disputed there. “The Foreign Office has not received any complaints from Israel,” assured a ministry spokesman at the government press conference.
Israel’s Supreme Court dealt with the right-wing religious government’s controversial plans to restructure the judiciary in a historic hearing last Tuesday. For the first time in the country’s history, all 15 judges came together to discuss eight petitions against an adopted amendment to the Basic Law.
Seibert at the court hearing
Seibert was also present at the court hearing as a spectator. In a video posted on
The Foreign Office described attending such an event as “common practice”. The German-Israeli Society (DIG) also supported Seibert: “There is nothing offensive about the German ambassador’s visit to proceedings before the Supreme Court,” emphasized DIG President Volker Beck.
Seibert had already been criticized by Israel in the past after he was present as a private citizen at an alternative memorial event for Israeli and Palestinian families. They remembered their relatives who had been killed in the conflict on both sides. Some ultra-right demonstrators then disrupted an event in June with loud protests in front of the ambassador’s residence in Herzliya.
Source: Stern
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