Bundestag President Bärbel Bas will take part in events marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Knesset this week.
Bas was invited by Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy, who tearfully addressed the Bundestag in Berlin in January on the day when the Holocaust is commemorated in Europe.
This is the first time a senior German official will be participating in the Knesset’s Holocaust memorial events.
On Wednesday morning, Levy and Bas will tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum together.
Later that morning, there will be an official welcoming ceremony in the Knesset, in which Bas will sign the Knesset’s guest book, after which the two will convene in the speaker’s office for a work meeting.
That evening, a special session of remembrance will be held with former chief rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.
Bas will then attend the official national ceremony at Yad Vashem.
On Thursday, Levy and Bas will light memorial candles in the Knesset, followed by short statements and more ceremonies at Yad Vashem and the Knesset.
Levy said the visit would strengthen the ties between the two parliaments.
“This is an additional expression of the special relationship between Israel and Germany and the historical responsibility that Germany has taken for the crimes of the Holocaust,” Levy said.