ABSTRACT
The thread running through the whole story of German-Israeli relations is without doubt the extermination of millions of Jews by the Hitler regime during the Second World War. But as nation states usually act from self-interest a conflict is certain to occur at some stage between moral debt and the national interest. The Nazi crimes had left a legacy of hatred amongst many nations, some of which had suffered heavy losses of life, but by instituting what Hitler called the Final Solution to the Jewish problem, meaning the total extermination of the Jewish race, the Nazis had selected the Jews for special treatment. The Adenauer government and the two houses of the Federal Parliament recognised that there was a moral debt. The West German attitude to Israel has changed because memories of the past have faded with time, but also, and not least, because of changes in the Federal Republics status in world politics.
