Berlin landmark lit up by Israeli flag following Jerusalem attack - Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

by Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

Editor: Indeed, a touching gesture. But where was Germany on December 23, the eve of Hanuka, when the shameful Resolution 2334 was passed by the UN Security Council. Germany voted with our sworn enemies. It's a bit like pushing a friend into the path of an oncoming car, and then sending him a get well card while he's in the hospital recuperating from broken bones and abrasions. Thanks a lot, Germany.

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Monday | Photo credit: AFP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, "The Israeli flag on Brandenburg Gate. Thank you Germany for the solidarity with Israel, for standing with us in our joint war on terror."

Tweeting in English and German, the Foreign Ministry said, "Thank you, Germany."

Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) tweeted, "Wow! So many emotions in this picture!"

Tweeting in English and German Hatnuah head Tzipi Livni said, "Thank you! We are moved. We will fight terror together."

"What is so moving and important about seeing the Israeli flag on the Brandenburg Gate is that it's a sign of solidarity," said South Africa's Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who was in Berlin to give a speech at nearby Humboldt University, and passed by after being told of the illumination.

"It's a recognition of the fact that democracies throughout the world, civilised people, civilised values throughout the world are under attack and under threat," Goldstein said.

"The way to defeat the threats in the world is when good people come together and stand shoulder to shoulder with one another, whether it is in Germany or in Israel or in France or America. Wherever it may be, we all stand together," said the chief rabbi.

Andrew Walde, who was carrying a large Israeli flag, said he had fallen in love with the country ever since he first visited Israel in 1980.

Asked what his thoughts were when he heard about the Jerusalem attack, three weeks after Berlin's Christmas market carnage, Walde said, "It happened the same brutal way and my thoughts were immediately with the people in Israel, the victims, their families."

In recent times, the Brandenburg Gate has been lit in national colors to express solidarity with different countries, such as after the Paris attacks.

Most recently, Berlin's landmark was draped in the colors of Turkey after a deadly Jan. 2 shooting in an Istanbul night club.

Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate was lit up in the blue and white colors of the Israeli flag on Monday night, in solidarity with the victims of a terrorist ramming attack in Jerusalem Sunday, which killed four Israeli soldiers and wounded 15.

Sunday's attack in Jerusalem came some three weeks after a similar incident in Berlin killed 12 people when a truck ploughed through a crowded Christmas market.

Jerusalem welcomed the gesture.

Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=39431

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