Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Elke Büdenbender received Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, and Mrs Michal Herzog for a three-day state visit to Germany from 4 to 6 September.
Early in the afternoon on 4 September, the Federal President and Elke Büdenbender welcomed the state guests from Israel with military honours in the park at Schloss Bellevue. Afterwards, the two heads of state held talks. In the evening, the Federal President and Elke Büdenbender hosted a state banquet in Schloss Bellevue in honour of the President of the State of Israel and Michal Herzog.
On the second day, the Federal President and Elke Büdenbender traveled to Fürstenfeldbruck with the state guests from Israel, to attend a commemorative event marking the 50th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics. Before the ceremony, the two Presidents met and talked with the families of the victims of the 1972 attack.
On 6 September, the Israeli President addressed the German Bundestag; Federal President Steinmeier attended this special session. Thereafter the Federal President and President Herzog jointly layed wreaths at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. In the afternoon, the Federal President and Elke Büdenbender visited the Bergen-Belsen Memorial with their state guests from Israel.
The state visit reaffirmed the close and unique relations between Germany and the State of Israel. The last Israeli state visit to Germany had taken place in 2015, but there had been several visits of the Israel Preisdent after that. Federal President Steinmeier last went on a state visit to Israel in June 2021.
Overview of the programme:
Sunday, 4 September
- Schloss Bellevue
Welcome with military honours for Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, and Mrs Michal Herzog - Talks with Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel
- Joint press conference
- State banquet in honour of Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, and Mrs Michal Herzog, hosted by the Federal President and Elke Büdenbender
Monday, 5 September
- Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base
Conversation between the Federal President and Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, and the families of the victims of the attack during the 1972 Munich Olympics - Wreath-laying ceremony on the airfield
- Speech in the presence of Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, at the commemorative event on the 50th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli Olympic team
Tuesday, 6 September
- Berlin, Reichstag building
Attendance at the special session of the German Bundestag with an address by Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel - Berlin, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Joint wreath-laying ceremony with the President of the State of Israel - Bergen-Belsen
Joint visit to the Bergen-Belsen Memorial with the President of the State of Israel, wreath-laying ceremony, guided tour of the exhibition by the Memorial Director - Talks with survivors of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and the exchange camp, and with young people