 countries are tight, they're versatile, and they are, first and foremost, unique. The fact that we in Germany, after the cruelties of the Holocaust that we can say today that Germany, Israel are friends and strategic partners and allies, this is a present. It cannot be taken for granted, and we are very thankful to Israel for this. The Holocaust is a crime of humanity. It is a past that will never be passed forever. It was very moving that you invited me, before all conversations this morning, to visit the Memorial Gleis 17, and from this terrible past for which Germany is responsible, we have a responsibility for the future. And for me, and for the entire German government, it is important to strengthen Jewish life in Germany and to support it. And this is also learning from the past and to distance and fight anti-Semitism. It is especially important to strengthen the cooperation and the exchange between young Germans and Israelis. It is important for me to intensify this exchange and to strengthen the cooperation in the field of youth. The very unique relationship between Germany and Israel also means that Germany stands for its responsibility concerning the security of Israel. It's part of itself understanding. This is what we as a government stand for, and this is what Israel can rely on. In our conversation today, we discussed many important topics, one of them being the Iranian nuclear program. We are united in our concern that Iran will go more steps in the uranium enrichment. We are united in our opinion that Iran cannot reach atomic weapons. This is a dangerous conflict that has to be fought against. And a diplomatic solution for this has top priority. The rule of Iran in the near and Middle East has been a topic of our conversations. Iran does not only support armed groups in the region, but also supplies Russia with weapons, Russia that has attacked Ukraine. And we call upon Iran to stop this destructive actions. The violence of the regime against its own citizens, the brutal Russian invasion in Ukraine was another important topic, as it couldn't be any different. This breach of international law is and will be unacceptable. Putin has to stop his war and has to take off his troops from Ukraine. And we want to supply more humanitarian aid, and we thank for Israel, for their supply of humanitarian aid. In Germany, Europe, Israel, we all stand on the side of Ukraine. We are also very worried about the Middle East conflict and the recent escalation of violence that we can see there. I expressed to the Prime Minister my condolences for the victims of the recent terror attacks in Israel. We are shocked by this blind violence. This has to be met by the consequences of the rule of law, but not with self-justice. You know that our position is that we want to find a sustainable solution for Israelis and Palestinians to be able to live in peace, and this can only mean it's two-state solution, and both sides have to negotiate this between them. Germany calls upon all sides to refrain from one-sided measures that contradict this goal. Part of that is the building of more settlements. The demand to the Palestinian Authority is to take responsibility for the building of a Palestine. The Prime Minister has also informed me about the justice reform that are also being discussed in Israel in a very controversial way. As the Democratic partners and friends of Israel, we are following this debate with great attention, and also I have to say with great concern. The independence of the justices is a high democratic value, and we share the same opinion on this. It is good that the President of State Herzog talked to many actors of society to fight against further polarization of society and to keep the peace in society in the country. I do think that a consensus is important and crucial. We also know that President Herzog has suggested concrete measures, and we as friends of Israel, we wish that the last word and that concern has not been spoken yet. Mr. Prime Minister, I thank you for your visit here in Germany and for the possibility to speak to you. It was important, and will also serve our good relations between our two countries. Thank you. Thank you, Chancellor Schultz. And distinguished guests, I want to express my gratitude for our meeting today. It was a productive discussion that further reinforced our nation's strong and enduring friendship. The friendship between Israel and Germany is rooted in a painful history, but it is also driven by shared hopes for a better future. On behalf of the people and government of Israel, I want to express our sincere appreciation for your commitment to Israel's security. I also want to thank you for your strong stance against anti-Semitism, which is an issue that should concern not only the Jewish state, but the entire civilized world. I look forward to working with you in the years ahead to deepen our economic relations. Israel and Germany are leaders in many economic areas, and combining our technology and our industry can propel both our countries towards a better future, a more prosperous future, for both our peoples. To create this better future for our peoples, we must stand together in confronting common dangers. And no danger is greater and of greater concern to Israel than Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. We discussed together how Israel and Germany can work together to thwart that pursuit. This was a main topic of our discussion, because Iran is a regime that calls and works to destroy the one and only Jewish state. We stood on the platform this morning, where the last Jews of Berlin, 60, 18 Jews, six weeks before the collapse of the Nazi regime in the conquest of Berlin, were sent to the death camp. When you have such a fanatic ideology that seeks to destroy Jewish people completely – erase them from the face of the earth – we had no defense at the time. Today, there is a fanatical regime that seeks to erase the one and only Jewish state with over six million Jews in it from the face of the earth. We have a defense, and Israel will do what we have to do to defend ourselves. As I told the Chancellor, the Jewish people will not allow a second Holocaust. The Jewish state will do everything necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, period. Of course, we'd like to do that with the concert and support and cooperation of the civilized powers of the world – the United States, the E3. I think we need to take a strong stance today against Iran and its quest to cross into a nuclear threshold and become a threshold state – basically a state that can produce nuclear weapons with the express desire to annihilate Israel. They say death to Israel, death to the United States, and a danger to everyone in between. Everyone in between is Germany, the EU. We have to act against it now. We have to communicate to Iran that it should not cross that threshold, or there will be heavy consequences. But again, Israel will do what Israel needs to do to defend itself against those who want to annihilate the Jewish state. Israel will also act against Iran's aggression and terrorism. Those who perpetrate terrorist attacks against Israel and those who send them will pay a heavy price. I have to say that we share the concerns of those who are trying to escalate the tensions in our region. Those who are trying to inflame terrorism – we're doing everything we can in an effort also to cooperate with our neighbors to prevent that escalation from going through and to do so in the most responsible fashion. I've led Israel for many years. I've been able to bring about security and tranquility over a period of years. But there is a big challenge now because there are people who are trying to break that – break that peace and break that tranquility. We'll try to thwart their plans and maintain as much security and peace as we can through the upcoming weeks. They'll be challenging. In addition to our security concerns, we discussed Israeli assistance to Ukraine and talked about advancing the sale of arrow systems to Germany. I think this is a point of historical importance. Seventy-eight years ago, we were nothing. We were wind-tossed leaves sent to the ovens of destruction. Now, less than 80 years later, the representative of a sovereign Jewish state is talking to the leader of a new Germany, a different Germany, about having Israeli – the Jewish state's defensive systems protect the skies of Germany. Germany is helping Israel. Israel is helping Germany. This security cooperation is two ways, and I think it shows – it highlights the remarkable transformation of the Jewish state. We also discussed highlighting that and deepening that by having youth exchanges, which we want to move forward on, and to have G2G government to government meetings that have been stopped for the last five years because of COVID and other circumstances to try to prepare the next one, which I think will advance everything that I discussed and many other things, such as Germany's participation in the economic projects of the Abraham Accords and perhaps future accords that we will have, which I think will benefit the entire world. I want to assure you, Chancellor Scholz, Israel is a liberal democracy, and will remain a liberal democracy. I personally have led Israel for almost the last 16 years, and I've helped liberalize the Israeli system, liberalize its economy, liberalize its way of life, advance the rights of LGBTs. How many of you know, contrary to the image that is voiced there, that the Likud has a powerful LGBT self, and its leader was nominated by me and elected overwhelmingly to be the speaker of the Israeli Knesset? I bet very few of you know that. The image that is voiced there is though we're trying to bring a judicial reform to cartel, the independence of the judiciary is not true. Israel has an independent judiciary, but many feel, I'm not able to talk about specific ideas, many feel that it is an all-powerful judiciary. An independent judiciary is not an all-powerful judiciary. The judicial reform is meant to bring into balance the three branches of government, and when that is accomplished, we will have the same balance that exists in any other democracy. I think we can borrow some of your ideas Chancellor, we had an opportunity to discuss them, but in fact they're very different from what people think or do not know about this judicial reform. For example, that in most countries, including in Germany, judges are chosen by elected officials. How you choose them, how you make sure that no one side overrides the other is important. But the ideas that are presented in Israel as though this is a break with democracy is not true. Israel was, Israel will remain a liberal democracy, not different and as strong and as vibrant as it was before and as Europe is today. We are not going to deviate from that one bit and we're committed to it. I want to say that I found the discussions with the Chancellor extremely productive and I look forward to continuing our discussion and to give you Chancellor a warm welcome in Jerusalem. Thank you for your hospitality and for our conversations. Hi, laser Berman from the Times of Israel, Chancellor Schultz, senior German officials and you included have not been shy about expressing your concern over the proposed judicial reform. After the Prime Minister rejected the President's framework, are you satisfied with the explanation that you've heard and how did you respond to that explanation? And Prime Minister Netanyahu, we had another reminder this week that Hezbollah continues to try to kill Israelis. There have been a series of Palestinian terror attacks as well. Do you think that this domestic infighting projects an image of weakness to our enemies and as Israel's leader is it not time to do whatever you can to make sure that the domestic infighting stops, that we sit down and that we are able to focus on these external threats against Israeli citizens? Thank you. Thank you for your question. It is indeed that my concerns and my worries that I expressed them also in our conversation. We are looking thoroughly at what is developing there and it is very important for us that there will be a solution that will be supported by all parties by the majority in Israel. I think that this is the most important one can reach in order to reach a consensus, but it is not our task, not the task of the German Chancellor to get involved in the concrete details of Israel's internal policy. We can watch and we can express our concerns, we can ask questions and hope that there will be a solution that keeps society together and this is also the hope that I have and this is what I want to express, because for us Israel's democracy is a very important partner in values and this is something that we want to emphasize every time we speak to others who question our support for Israel, our we say that this is a partner that we feel very connected to for historic reasons, but also because we are democracies, we have rules of laws, we are democracies that don't need to fear. I called many times for discussions with the opposition, regrettably all these appeals were met with a complete refusal to even sit for one day, for one hour, for one minute about discussing possible zones of agreement to reach a consensus. I think this reflects the fact that there is no real desire to reach that and in fact there is a desire to reach a moment of crisis, perhaps a governmental breakdown, a search for new elections. If that continues that's regrettable, but we will do whatever we think is the right thing to achieve something that is, that corrects the imbalance that exists today between the branches of government and yet at the same time could over time be accepted as the best solution for Israel in line with my principles of keeping Israel a liberal balanced democracy and I don't think anyone should be concerned with that because that is our goal and that is something that will be done even though I can't intervene with it directly, which is another absurdity. If I'm asked and I'm sure I will be asked would I support the changes that bring about two things. One, a balance in the way that we choose judges because in Israel today judges effectively have a veto power and the choice of judges, something that barely exists, I don't know that it exists anywhere, it certainly doesn't exist in Germany, doesn't exist in most democracies and it shouldn't exist in Israel. There is a way to balance it and correct the way we choose judges so it reflects the broad spectrum of society and broad views but not allow one side to dominate the other. We're not seeking that. So I would obviously support that and the second thing that I think is being asked and should be discussed is the question of judicial override. That is a real issue. It's a real concern. You want to maintain the balance between the branches of government but not to tilt the balance by correcting the imbalance, not to turn it to an imbalance on the other side. These are real issues. I don't deny it. I think if we don't have a partner we'll try to come up with the best solution but the answer to your question is I think we need as broad a consensus as we can. I regret the fact that the opposition refused to discuss it for even one moment. Lacking that, we'll try to give the best solution that we can. Minister President, I have to speak about the justice reform because there are two worlds that are being presented because you described that you want to keep a liberal democracy and the chancellor hinted at the fact that even the president of Israel called upon you to take back the judicial reform. So again the question how far do you want to go? There are warnings that civil war is on the horizon. Would you be willing? You said that you don't want to move a centimeter. Are you ready to let it come so far and to you, Chancellor Scholz? Is it true that Germany is always part of the German self-understanding even if critics say that Israel is losing its democratic values? Is it unconditional the German self-understanding in regards to Israel? Israel is not going to abolish democratic principles. If the democratic principle that we're about to abolish is that judges do not elect judges, do not have a veto power on electing judges, then none of your Germany is not following democratic principles because judges do not have a veto power on Germany. They don't have a veto power on many other countries. So it's absurd. You can issue any slogan and any slogan is being issued and Israel is being constantly maligned. I'm supposed to be some potentate who's abolishing democracy and all this nonsense. It will take not a lot of time to realize that this is absurd. It's preposterous. So I don't think you have a real question about Israel's values. They will be tested over time and they will be proven over time to maintain the democratic norms that are available in just about every other democracy. We're not trying to change Israel's democracy. We're trying to bring it in line with what is common and acceptable in just about every Western democracy. Not to pick and choose this or that reform so that we can make it illiberal, but to make it more liberal, more responsive to the people and more representative of the various views that are in the society, but not to have dictatorial powers of any party or any branch of the government. There has to be a balance. That's the nature of democracy. The nature of democracy is to balance majority, rule with civil and minority rights. The only way that that is accomplished in modern democracies is by balance between the three branches of government. The legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. In Israel, that balance has been changed radically. And what we're trying to do is bring it back into balance. That will not hinder Israeli democracy. It will strengthen it. It will not hinder independent judiciary. It will maintain it. It will not, in any way, jeopardize individual rights. It will solidify them. In fact, I discussed all this with the chancellor. And I'm sure if you want, we can spend the next few hours repeating our conversation. But I think you should understand that this is what guides me. I've led Israel, liberalized its economy, and the slanders and falsification against us. I can't fight this tide. The only way I'll fight this tide, and we will fight this tide, is that the outcome, when it comes, will be tested over time, and people will see. Has Israel become more liberal, or has it become less liberal? Does Israel protect individual rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, or did it become this absurd notion of a halachic, ultra-orthodox state? It's absurd. Israel was, is, and will remain a liberal society. Well, first of all, it's important to tell you happy birthday. It is nice that we agreed to meet here. Secondly, it is our wish that our partner on values, Israel, will remain a liberal democracy, to confess that it is important to express it. And we heard that, and I think it is important, because there are many who say that this is not a real thing, but democracy is not only the government of the majority, but also the security of those who maybe forever will remain a minority, maybe, out of different reasons that a minority doesn't have to fear. And I think this is something that is a shared value. And in that regard, we will have to see how this will develop in the future. But I am confident. I believe that it will succeed, and this is also my wish. The security of Israel is part of our self-understanding. No doubt. Chancellor Schultz, we know that Iran has enriched uranium to the level of 84% and is supplying weapons to Russia in its war. And you just heard the leaders speak themselves. And we're going to return to our studio panel to break down what they just said. Now, we've been discussing all day with you about what the critical issues are and what we would expect from these speeches. We just heard it, and it was exactly as you were predicting. The big question we should open up with is, well, was there a disconnect from the prediction and from the ideas set forth by both leaders? Certainly there's some shared goals, but do they see it the same way? And I want to open that with you, Polina. Well, of course, we were talking about the judicial reform, and as we predicted, the concern that was raised by Germany has been very subtle and always framed as one coming from an invested friend. As we mentioned, Israel's democracy is part of Germany's reason of being the raison d'etre. And of course, it is following what is happening in Israel closely, as Chancellor Schultz said. Germany is, of course, in no position to make any sort of decisions. So he made it clear that Germany does not intend to intervene. However, the clear reference to the compromise suggested by President Herzog, something that's echoing what German president Frank Wölter-Steimer said earlier, both are quite unusual remarks. So while Germany says it's not really intervening, it's definitely showing, while expressing support at least, two attempts to find a compromise, something that Netanyahu clearly rejected in his statement. He blamed the opposition for not even trying to find some sort of middle ground. Then in his comments to the press, rejected all sorts of criticism towards this reform, saying that it's simply being misunderstood. OK, thank you. We're going to briefly move to our Middle East correspondent, who has joined us on this panel. We heard him speak about Iran, both nations really in agreement about what the next step has to be. I think the short answer is no. And we've seen that build up for many, many months now. I think even years, ever since the JCPOA, the Iran Nuclear Deal signed in 2015. What we've seen since the US unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 is that, on the one hand, the Iranian regime has continued to develop kind of restart their nuclear program, while the US has tried to reimpose some of the sanctions. But the European members of the JCPOA have really tried to stick to the diplomatic avenue as much as possible. And that's what we heard Schultz say today, that he still believes that diplomacy is the way to work. I think Netanyahu came here with a goal to try and align Germany closer to the US, that thinks while diplomacy is the main way, there needs to be a military plan prepared. I'm not sure that Schultz is in that same position looking in tandem with Netanyahu on that issue. That makes sense. For one nation, it's very much an existential threat. For the other, it's mostly economic. Thank you all for joining us and breaking down just what this meeting really meant and what the differences of opinion were. And thank you all for listening. Unfortunately, we are out of time for now. We're going to have so much more at the top of each hour now as you have all of our various broadcasts throughout the day, only here on I-24 News.