Jerusalem - Germans have a "special responsibility" toward Israel, visiting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Jerusalem Monday, as he toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II. Westerwelle, who had only just arrived in Israel, laid a wreath at the memorial, and was also set Monday night to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran's nuclear programme are expected to dominate the discussions with Israeli officials.
His visit comes a week before Netanyahu will meet in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Israeli and German ministers will hold a joint cabinet session.
The ministerial trip also coincides with reports of renewed activity in German-mediated negotiations to free an Israel prisoner held captive by the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas in the Gaza Strip for over three years.
Prior to leaving Germany, Westerwelle reiterated his government's support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, telling a news conference in Berlin that while Israel has the "right to secure borders," the Palestinians "also have the right to have their own state."
On Tuesday Westerwelle will meet Palestinian officials in Ramallah.
Westerwelle, making his first visit to Israel in his new post, last visited the country seven years ago, when still an opposition politician. His trip then was overshadowed by remarks from his Free Democratic Party colleague Jürgen Möllemann, which were seen as anti- Semitic, and Westerwelle's failure to immediately distance himself from the comments.
