Junge Union Bavaria Delegation to the Middle East

The JU Bavaria is the state association of the Junge Union, the independent youth organization of the CSU (Christian-Social Union) of Bavaria, whose members are under the age of 35. The delegation comprised of members of State Parliament as well as members of Bavarian local Municipalities.

In the Palestinian Territories, the delegation received a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Dr. Amal Jadou, who spoke about the current state of Palestinian affairs and the relationship with Europe. Complimenting this meeting was a briefing given by Mr. Tobias Krause, Deputy Director of the Representative Office of the German Federal Republic in Ramallah. Mr. Krause gave an insight into Germany's development aid as well as the role that Germany can play in any future peace negotiations.

A further meeting in the Palestinian Territories was with the Minister of Palestinian Environment Quality Authority, Mrs. Adallah Ateereh, with whom the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) cooperates with in a EU Partnership for Peace environmental project.  Additionally, the delegation met with Minister Dr. Omar Kettaneh of the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority, to view the newly established HSF Education Center for Renewable Energy.  As a refresher, the delegation visited the Taybeh Brewery, in order to learn about a Palestinian medium-sized business enterprise and to, of course, also get a taste of Palestinian beer, which is brewed according to the 500-year-old German purity law. 

The political meetings in Israel took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Israel, with Mr. Ilan Ben Dov, Director of European Affairs, who gave a briefing about the Israel- EU relations and answered questions from the delegation members about the current political situation in Israel.

Giving a political insight from within the legislative branch in Israel, was a meeting with Member of Knesset Dr. Nachman Shai, member of the Zionist Union Party and Chairman of the Israel-Germany friendship group of the Knesset, who spoke about his party's alternative political plan to unilaterally disengage from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A military insight was given during a briefing with Maj. Aryeh Sharuz-Shalicar, a native Berliner who moved to Israel and became the director of the European Desk at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Maj. Shalicar discussed the close security cooperation between the IDF and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces, as well as the security situations along Israel's borders, with a special focus on Hezbollah, which the IDF sees as Israel's greatest threat.

Moving away from politics, the delegation received a survey of the German-Israeli Economic Relations from Mr. Grisha Alroi, CEO of the German-Israeli-Chamber of Commerce.

Concluding the visit was a meeting with representatives of the Young Yesh-Atid Party, with whom the delegation discussed the role of political youth organizations in both Germany and Israel, and shared many creative ideas, in order to promote more political engagement among young people in both countries.