Symbolism sits at center of Barak’s visit to Berlin

BERLIN -- It is 5 p.m. Tuesday in Berlin and the street lamps are already on. The air is cold and the light dim. Rows of gray uniformed soldiers are lined up on the lawn outside Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's office.

More soldiers peer off the nearby rooftops, standing stiff, holding rifles. The red carpet is rolled out. Those gathered pull their sweaters tight and scan the sky.

And then Prime Minister Ehud Barak's helicopter touches down. The first world leader to make an official visit to the new capital of Germany, Barak walks forward with his usual confidence, holding his head high, his lips pursed, aware of the significance of the moment. Schroeder extends a hand, the band strikes up "Hatikvah."

"This month, 60 years ago, from his very place, a world war began," Barak said. "In the year that I was born, they were planning the Final Solution here, and here I am returning as prime minister and a former chief of general staff."

He came to visit, he said, both as the leader of his country, and as a symbol. "A symbol," he explained, "of the freedom, strength, and independence of Israel."

In Germany Tuesday, on the first leg of a three-day European tour, symbolism seemed to carry the day. Schroeder and Barak, who last met when they were each in the opposition, held a working meeting in which they discussed such matters as Germany's role in the multilateral talks and in regional projects and Israel's relations with the European Union.

But the main focus of the visit was not its content, but the very fact it took place at this time.

"We are here in Berlin at the start of a new era, and yet we assure you there will never be a break with the past," said Schroeder at a joint press conference following the meeting.

"We will not stop coming to terms with the past, and we will not forget what was done to the Jews. On the contrary, we will continue to come to terms with the legacy of our past, in order to serve as an ongoing reminder to the family of nations."

Barak echoed these sentiments, saying that he felt he was closing a circle.

"The Germany we are in today is very different from the Germany that once was, but we will never allow what once was to be forgotten, and never be repeated," he said. "That is why I am here today."

Barak urged a resolution of the issue of slave-labor reparations, saying that "it is urgent since the people involved are very old."

Schroeder said everyone wants to resolve the matter, but noted that there are sometimes difficulties in assessing who is eligible for reparations. Nonetheless, he said, he believes the matter will be concluded this year.

Barak briefed Schroeder on the progress being made on the implementation of the Sharm el-Sheik memorandum. According to his aides, Barak told Schroeder that although Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat "might not look the part of a peacemaker, he is the one who can do it."

With regard to Syria, Barak repeated his belief that there is no reason why President Hafez Assad, who has allowed contact with Israeli prime ministers in the past, will not agree to enter into talks with this government.

"I believe that the talks will be restarted. Maybe not this week, and maybe not next week, maybe not even this month, but it cannot be that we won't be able to find a way to seriously discuss peace with the Syrians," Barak told reporters.

Asked if he believes there is a chance Foreign Minister David Levy will meet with his Syrian counterpart Farouk Shara this week when they both attend the U.N. General Assembly, Barak said he "hadn't a clue," but that if he had to guess he "would say the chances are slim."

Asked what sort of role he sees Germany playing in Middle East peace negotiations, Barak made it clear that "the central players in this process are the regional players and the United States, which has been involved since Madrid."

Europe, Barak told Schroeder, has a role to play on the multilateral track. Barak also asked that Germany assist Israel in its efforts to secure a preferential agreement with the European Union, as stipulated in the Maastricht treaty.

On Wednesday, Barak met briefly with German President Johannes Rau. He then traveled to Sachsenhausen, a former Nazi concentration camp, for a memorial ceremony. With Barak on the trip were a small group of Sachsenhausen survivors, who brought with them their grandchildren serving in the Israel Defense Force.

Barak pledged "never again" during the Sachsenhausen visit.

"Never will we leave ourselves without the means to defend our life or be at the mercy of other people," the premier said in Hebrew after touring the site with Schroeder.

The chancellor, who wore a skullcap during a memorial service at the camp, called on Germans never to forget their past.

On Wednesday, Barak continued on to France, where he was set to meet with President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.