The high-ranking political delegation from the German parliament visited Israel with ELNET in June 2017. The delegation, headed by Ansgar Heveling MdB, Chair of the Committee of Internal Affairs of the German Bundestag, consisted of seven members of the German Parliament including e.g. Dr. Stephan Harbarth MdB, Deputy Chairman of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union). The delegation participants were not only able to exchange their in-depth and profound knowledge regarding internal security issues, such as cyber security and counter terrorism but also pursue their personal interest in learning more about Israel in general.
Among others, the delegation had a productive meeting with Eran Etzion, Director of FSD and previously Head of Policy Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who gave the group an overview of Israel’s security situation before departing to Mount Carmel in Haifa for an IDF briefing to see the geopolitical realities of the country first hand. The trip to Haifa was concluded by a visit of the Arab-Jewish Cultural Center Beit HaGefen and offered its insights on Jewish-Arab coexistence.
Back in Jerusalem the group met in the Knesset with MK Yaakov Perry (Yesh Atid), member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee; MK Ksenia Svetlova (Zionist Union), Member of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs and MK Yehuda Glick (Likud), Alternate Member of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee. A meeting with Chagai Tzuriel, Director General of the Ministry of Intelligence gave the group the opportunity to discuss intelligence challenges in Israel and Germany. The meeting with Prof. Boaz Ganor, Founder & Executive Director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), gave the delegates a comprehensive overview on Israel’s Counter Terrorism approach. The parliamentarians further met with Mesila, an aid and information center for migrant workers and refugees and with Deputy Minister of Interior, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Mansour of the Palestinian Authorities in Ramallah.
