Just over a month ago, I posted a video on one of my social media channels. Normally, we use these channels to try to explain foreign policy with a touch of humour and to make the case for diplomacy.

This video was different.

It was about commemorating 7 October 2023, about that turning point in Israel’s history.

I wanted to remember the people that Hamas murdered or cruelly violated on that day.

I wanted to express my solidarity with the people that Hamas abducted on that day and held in inhumane captivity. For some, this captivity lasted up to 738 days. Many of those abducted lost their lives.

The video was a sign of compassion and solidarity with the families of all these victims.

Because the lives that Hamas sought to extinguish must not be forgotten.

My video was online for less than two hours.

Then we had to disable the comments section.

We had to do this because the things that were posted in the comments there – which are, after all, intended to promote dialogue – were not aimed at any kind of discussion. Nor were they in any way geared towards a reasonable response.

They were intended solely to stoke hatred.

I’m sure that many of you know exactly what I’m talking about, that many of you have experienced such hatred first-hand.

It is a hatred that screams ever louder and which seeks to nip any kind of dialogue in the bud.

This experience shook me to the core.

And yes, I also think that something has shifted in our country. Such hatred is becoming more vocal – and it is being shouted out openly and shamelessly: on the streets, on the internet, at regulars’ tables in pubs and in swanky bars.

Ladies and gentlemen,

One of the reasons we’re meeting here today is because we refuse to accept this.

Because we know that, without dialogue, there can be no peace.

And that is an expression of responsibility.

As I was preparing for this event, I leafed through Shimon Peres’s biography.

For him, this sense of personal responsibility was indeed a lifelong theme – a leitmotif, as it were.

In his memoirs, he describes a scene from 2007.

At the age of 83, he was sworn in as President of the State of Israel; by that time, he had already enjoyed a distinguished career and had served as Foreign Minister.

During the celebrations, a young man approached him.

“Mr President! With all due respect, why do you want to carry on working at your age, after such a long career?”

Peres replied thus: “Why do I serve? I suppose I never considered the alternative.”

He never considered the alternative. Serving his country, serving the cause of peace, a life devoted to balancing interests – for him, this took precedence over everything else.

And this was not a matter of personal ambition or vanity.

Rather, it was a fundamental priority for him.

It was a commitment fuelled by a sense of responsibility for the “we”, for the community.

Peres had always hoped that many, particularly the younger generation, would take this sentiment to heart.

That this willingness to serve society would endure, even when the going is tough.

He summed up this attitude, this standard he set for himself, quite well, I think.

“We need leaders who would rather be controversial for the right reasons than popular for the wrong ones.”

Ladies and gentlemen,

I have the alarming impression that, today, any German who, in the face of rampant and unspeakable antisemitism, appeals to our special responsibility towards Jews or indeed towards Israel, is swiftly labelled as “controversial”.

By contrast, those who devote themselves to hatred of Judaism can expect to receive not only murmurs of approval, but increasingly also applause. Even when this is disguised as opposition to Zionism and to the government and the State of Israel.

That said, I would add that criticism of the policies of the current government of the State of Israel is, of course, also permitted in Germany. This goes without saying in a free society, in an open democracy, and even among the closest of friends and partners.

What we must never accept, however – and where we must always stand up to oppose this – is when the very existence of the State of Israel is called into question. That existence – and states do have a right to exist – and the security of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state form the very foundation of German politics.

There can be no place here for antisemitism or for sheer hatred of Israel.

And the fact that I have to emphasise this in 2026, here in our capital, also fills me with shame.

How can we accept that people are no longer able to display their Jewish identity in public?

How can we allow hatred of Jews to spread almost unchecked?

What does this say about the state of our democracy if we’re unable to protect our religious or ethnic communities?

As Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, as a Member of the German Bundestag and, yes, also as a German citizen, I am bound by our responsibility towards Israel and Jewish life in Germany.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The inhumane terrorist attack by Hamas was a profound turning point, as I have already said.

We must not allow these crimes to be forgotten or played down.

We must also understand that this day and the subsequent global resurgence of antisemitism remain a source of trauma for Israel and continue to make their impact felt.

Every day, as we watch the news about Iran, about Hezbollah, about Yemen, we’re faced with the question of whether Jews will ever be able to feel safe from such threats.

And, of course, we must not stop there.

Hamas has forced a war upon Israel.

This war has brought immense suffering also to the Palestinian civilian population. That is a fact, and we must not accept this either.

Both are part of the reality of this conflict:

Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas’s terror, and Israel’s duty to protect the Palestinian civilian population and to respect international humanitarian law, both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank.

I’m stating this so clearly because, ultimately, only the courage to pursue peace and reconciliation – on both sides – will guarantee Israel’s security.

Peres understood this.

Genuine peace requires security, but security also requires understanding, empathy and, above all, trust.

I therefore have very tangible wishes and hopes for Israel.

We hope that Israel can exist at long last in security as a country – no longer under threat, in a region where everyone is able to live in security and dignity.

That Israel can live in peace with its neighbours.

That it becomes entirely normal for young Israelis to live, work or travel in neighbouring countries.

Plans and ideas for something like this do exist, after all. And it was we Germans who organised the first official youth exchange between Israel, Bahrain and also Berlin.

This path of normalisation and exchange is the only right one and, moreover, the only way to bring lasting peace to the conflict in the region.

We want more of this.

And, as far as the conflict with the Palestinians is concerned, I’m firmly convinced that this can only be achieved through a negotiated two-state solution.

Only such a solution safeguards the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and protects the rights of the Palestinians.

I see no convincing alternative to a negotiated two-state solution. That is why we remain unwavering in our commitment to it. This also means ensuring that the practical conditions for a negotiated two-state solution are maintained.

I know – indeed, we all know – that this is no easy path, and that this issue isn’t exactly at the heart of the ongoing coalition talks in Israel.

But that’s precisely why we need courageous people who are prepared to go down this path. People who keep the dialogue going, who seek understanding, who put forward proposals for peace. Just like today’s award winners.

People who see their responsibility to society precisely in this: in the spirit of what Shimon Peres meant by this, namely personal responsibility for society – because there is simply no other option.

And we can see this evening, too, that you don’t have to be Shimon Peres to take this to heart.

We will see this when we honour award winners – young people – in his name in just a moment.

They show that responsibility isn’t a question of age. That you don’t need to hold political office or occupy a particular position in society to make a difference.

Responsibility isn’t something we explain once and then file away.

Responsibility must prove itself time and again. In everyday life, on the streets, in the political community and especially in parliaments.

Also here in Berlin.

The city where Jewish life and culture have existed for centuries, and which must not be forced to go into hiding now.

Thank you very much.