May 12, 2025 / 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. /

Foresight, courage and assertiveness. This is how Konrad Adenauer and David Ben-Gurion founded the German-Israeli relationship on May 12, 1965. Today, this has grown into a powerful partnership. Especially in security policy. 

Germany has always enjoyed a special security partnership with Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East: the acquisition of the Israeli Arrow 3 air defense system, the joint “Blue Flag” series of air force exercises and the training of German soldiers on the Israeli Heron TP drone are just the most recent examples of particularly trusting cooperation.

We would like to take 60 years of German-Israeli relations as an opportunity to highlight the major milestones in the security policy relationship. A complementary view of the military and intelligence perspectives will provide a complete picture of the relationship, which was largely characterized by forward-looking arms cooperation and Germany's role as a respectable mediator in the Middle East conflict.

The event is a cooperation between the German-Israeli Society, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS).

Admission only after personal registration. For the safety of you and our guests, by registering you give your consent to undergo a possible security check. Registered guests will be informed of the event location by e-mail. 

Welcome and introduction to the topic 

Ursula Schmitt
Deputy Chairwoman German-Israeli Society e. V., Bonn Working Group
 
Dr. Cedric Bierganns
Consultant on security policy and the Bundeswehr, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.

Discussion: 60 years of German-Israeli relations: Joint security policy through the ages 

Obert i.G. Dr. Klaus Jürgen Haffner
Since 2022 Air Force Attaché German Embassy, London. Previously from 2018-2022 Defense Attaché German Embassy, Tel Aviv.

 
Dr. Gerhard Conrad
Islamic scholar, lawyer and former employee of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND)

Moderation:

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie 
Henry Kissinger Professor for Security and Strategy Research, CASSIS, University of Bonn