'Israel, Germany share special connection'

            The anti-Semitic slogans sprayed on the walls of the new synagogue in the western German city of Osnabrück shocked teenager Christian Wulff, who never imagined that such things could happen in his country again. Alongside the swastikas, the unknown assailants added Nazi slogans like "Jews, drop dead." Wulff, who served at the time as chairman of his school's student union, decided to initiate a protest against the desecration of the synagogue. Thousands of the city's residents accepted Wulff's call to hold a march of solidarity with Osnabrück's small Jewish community, from the location of the old synagogue which was completely burned on Kristallnacht to the new synagogue which was vandalized. Those days, about 33 years ago, such a procession was not an obvious thing in Germany. "It was essentially the first public political activity I had ever initiated," recalls Wulff, who today serves as Germany's president. Wulff, a member of the Christian Democratic Party, was appointed to the most senior position in Germany last summer in what was said to be a big surprise. His predecessor, senior economist Horst Köhler, resigned in late May after being criticized for remarks he made in favor of using military force to defense economic interests. After many deliberations, Chancellor Angela Merkel deiced to present Wulff as her party's candidate for the top symbolic role. Until then, Wulff had served as prime minister of the state of Lower Saxony. Following a nerve-racking race against the left-wing candidate, Wulff became united Germany's fifth president. Wulff, 51, is not just the youngest president in Germany's history. He also brought along to Bellevue Palace an unusual and non-conservative presidential family. His beautiful second wife, Bettina, 37, was a single mother before they married and gave him a son two years ago. The new spirit introduced by Wulff has also led to a slightly different treatment of the president by the press. TV host and author Charlotte Rosche suggested that he spend a night with her if he refuses to sign into law the extension of the country’s nuclear power stations. Wulff did not respond to the offer. "I feel the citizens are supportive of the fact that a family with small children has moved into the president's palace," Wulff says in a special interview to Yedioth Ahronoth, conducted before his visit to Israel. "We have children in high school, in elementary school and in kindergarten. As a father I experience many daily problems of every family. My wife is very supportive of me thanks to her commitment, ties and experience. She was a single parent, I was divorced. Naturally, these experiences affect our work as well." Wulff arrived in Israel on Saturday night for his first official visit since taking office five months ago. He insisted on including the Jewish state among his first destinations abroad. Israel, on its part, is going out of its way to express its appreciation for the new German president: His counterpart Shimon Peres accompanied him on a tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited him to a private meal at his home. Wulff, the first German president born after World War II, has already visited Israel many times in the past, but views his first presidential visit to the Holy Land as particularly important. As a member of Germany's young generation of leaders, he is interested in stressing the continuation of the special connection between Israel and Germany. This is the reason he decided to bring along his eldest daughter from his first marriage, 17-year-old Annalena. "My country's responsibility for the crimes of the Holocaust constitutes for us Germans an ongoing commitment to vouch for Israel's right to exist," Wulff says. "This responsibility is part of the German identity and we must fill it with life. Therefore, it was very important to me to come to Israel for a few days at the start of my term and clarify the great importance we attribute to the uniqueness of our relations. "Recognizing the Israeli citizens' right to safe and recognized border and to life free of violence and fear is a consistent and unchanging principle of the German policy. As far as we are concerned, Israel's security is non-negotiable. I say it everywhere. Only recently I made such a statement at Turkey's Grand National Assembly. "This basically means that Germany is working together with its partners in any way possible to find a diplomatic solution for the threat stemming from the Iranian nuclear program." (22,08)