Row as German chancellor to address Israeli parliament

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Germany's Angela Merkel will make history Tuesday when she becomes the first German chancellor to address Israel's parliament, the Knesset.

But a minority in Israel would rather not hear from the chancellor, who plans to speak to Israeli lawmakers in German at 5 p.m. (11 a.m. ET).

Among them is Knesset member Arieh Eldad, who says he will miss the address. "My grandparents were murdered by Germans," Eldad told CNN. "The last word that they heard in life were in German. The orders to shoot and kill them were in German."

Other members of the Knesset plan to walk out of the session, according to Israeli media reports. "There is no forgiveness forever and ever and ever until the last day," Eldad said.

Israel and Germany did not establish diplomatic ties until 1965 -- when Germany was called West Germany -- and even then, it was against a backdrop of angry protests.

Now, 43 years later, the relationship is doing well. Israeli ministers and their German counterparts who traveled with Merkel held a joint cabinet session Monday and posed for the press, shaking hands, one by one.

Merkel's brief trip to Israel has already been remarkable, taking her to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and sparking a national conversation about how Israel's relationship with Germany has developed since the era of Adolf Hitler.

Holocaust survivor Manfred Gerstenfeld said the two countries have come a long way since the horrors of World War II, and he said Merkel's visit to Israel sends the right signals.

"I would say it is ever more important that she is showing the world that Germany still admits its guilt," Gerstenfeld said.

Germany plays a low-profile but not insignificant role in the Middle East. German officials are involved in behind-the-scenes efforts to free two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah in 2006, and German troops are part of the multinational force in southern Lebanon.

And Germany has also provided Israel with several advanced submarines capable of carrying nuclear missiles.

But the countries do have their differences. Israel is pushing for tougher international sanctions on Iran to curb its nuclear program, while Germany is one of Iran's biggest trading partners.

Israeli opinion writers have cited Iran as the biggest issue facing Merkel during her visit.

"On Tuesday, speaking from the parliamentary podium of the nation whose very existence is a repudiation of Hitler's legacy, Merkel has the chance to firmly address the Iran issue in a way that is justified and necessary not only for her immediate Jewish audience, but the ears of her own countrymen," wrote Calev Ben-David in the Jerusalem Post.

"In a Knesset where Germany was once seen only as an 'outcast among the family of nations,' its leader has a chance -- and bears the responsibility -- of making clear that her nation can have no truck with an Iranian regime that openly aspires to continue with the most vicious policies of its darkest past," he wrote.

Knesset member Shelly Yachimovich said she respects Israel's relationship with Germany but feels it is wrong to let Merkel address lawmakers.

"Germany is our friend," Yachimovich told Israel's Haaretz newspaper, "but in this day and age we should respect the (Holocaust) survivors' injured soul." E-mail to a friend

CNN's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.

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