The Special Relationship between West Germany and Israel

First Published in 1984, The Special Relationship between West Germany and Israel stresses the uniqueness of the historical ties between Germans and Jews, but attempts to set the implementation of post war German - Israeli policy relations in the context of a general theory of bilateral ties between states. Lily Gardner Feldman has articulated the concept of the special relationship and indicated its relevance for other international partnerships, including those between France and Germany and the United States and Israel. It is difficult to imagine a less likely bilateral relationship of friendship and mutual support after World War II than one between Germans and Jews. Yet in their simultaneous efforts to establish legitimacy in the family of nations, the Federal Republic of Germany and Israel turned to each other. And so, in one of history's greatest ironies West Germany looked to Israel for the Nazi victims to acknowledge the moral acceptability of the successor state and Israel looked to as Germany as the lone industrial state with both the means and the will to provide a measure of economic security. This book reveals the intricacies of the German- Israeli policy relationship in a setting of extensive and complicated ties between German and Israeli societies and individuals. It is based on more than 100 interviews with key actors in erstwhile West Germany and Israel. The innovative combination of theory and practice about such dramatic historical and contemporary importance should appeal not only to academics but also to the policy communities.