ABSTRACT
In examining the effects that Israel has on people's image of Jews, the categorical difference between attitudes toward a country and those toward an ethnic group must be kept in mind. The Holocaust has lent German-Israeli relations a very pronounced, distinctive historical dimension. Personal attitudes toward Israelis must be distinguished from attitudes toward Israel. Sympathy and antipathy toward Israel are largely influenced by its role in the Middle East conflict. Attitudes toward Israel are heavily influenced by its special bilateral relationship with Germany. In the public mind, a desire for close political and military cooperation with Israel involved balancing consideration for German interests in regard to the Arab countries against Germany's special obligation to Israel. The central significance rejection of Israeli demands for material and moral reparations had for anti-Semites was indicated by the significant correlation between opposition to reparations and the measures of anti-Semitism.
