January 15, 2024 | Universitätsforum, Heussallee 18-24, 53113 Bonn

100 days after the attack on Israel - we are facing this sad turning point on January 15, 2024. For us, this is an occasion to take a closer look at the enormous security policy implications of the Islamist barbarism of October 7, 2023 in a major event of solidarity with Israel as the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. Based on the eventful development of the Israeli state, we will look at the regional security policy implications of Hamas' latest "inhuman atrocity" (German Chancellor Olaf Scholz) as well as the impact of this bloody deed on German-Israeli relations and explore the question of what the Israeli war on terror means for the special security needs of Israel and Jewish citizens in Germany and Europe.

The terrorist crimes committed by Hamas, which represent a "declaration of war on the civilized world" (Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck), cannot leave us cold - as Germans who are aware of their special historical responsibility, but also as enlightened Europeans who have long since renounced killing in the name of religion. The resolution passed unanimously by the Bundestag on October 10, 2023 not only reaffirms that Israel's security and right to exist is part of the German raison d'être, but also calls on the Federal Government to grant Israel full solidarity and all support and to punish anti-Semitic attacks in Germany with the full force of the rule of law.

The fact that Israel's legitimate self-defence under international law against the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas militia also resulted in open anti-Semitic riots on the streets of Europe, among other things, illustrates once again that "anti-Semitic glorification of violence" (Friedrich Merz) by Islamist militant organizations and networks has been allowed to develop with impunity in Germany for too long without the rule of law taking consistent action. It is therefore necessary to discuss how the security of Jewish Germans and Europeans can be effectively guaranteed and how Jewish life, which has re-emerged as an important part of the Federal Republic, can be comprehensively protected and promoted.

The event is a cooperation between the Israeli Embassy, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS), the Bonn Academy for Research and Teaching of Practical Politics (BAPP), the Academy of International Affairs NRW, the Abraham Accords Institute and the German-Israeli Society e.V. (DIG). It will take place at the University Forum (Heussallee 18-24, 53113 Bonn), which seats around 180 people.

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