Germany to include Israel in EU deal for vaccine, citing ‘special relationship’
Berlin’s foreign minister reportedly tells Gabi Ashkenazi that Israel will get AstraZeneca COVID-19 inoculation when it is sold to European countries
JTA — Germany has pledged to include Israel in Europe’s deal for a future vaccine against the coronavirus, in keeping with Germany’s “special relationship” with Israel as a response to the Holocaust.
According to Hebrew-language media on Monday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Health Minister Jens Spahn made the commitment to Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff in conversations on October 11.
A report by the Ynet website claimed Germany used its influence in the EU to bend the rule that a European-produced vaccination would be given first to European countries. Germany justified the decision in part through its historical commitment to supporting Israel.
Embassy spokesperson Shir Gidon told business news site Globes that “Germany sees Israel as part of Europe in terms of procuring the vaccine and therefore it will be permitted to convey the vaccine for use in Israel when it is approved.”
The decision, which followed an earlier meeting between Ashkenazi and Maas in Berlin, would allow Israel — an associate member of the European Union — to purchase some of the 400 million vaccines that the UK-Swedish company AstraZeneca is contracted to produce for the EU, if the vaccine, currently in phase III human trials, is found to be safe and effective.
Ashkenazi told Ynet that an eventual vaccine would “allow the economy to return to full activity in Israel,” and thanked Issacharoff and the embassy staff for their role in reaching the agreement.
In 2008, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as the first in her position invited to speak to the Knesset, described Germany’s “special historical responsibility for Israel’s security” as part of Germany’s “raison d’être.”
