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 Denmark |  Israel |
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Denmark–Israel relations refers to thebilateral relationship betweenDenmark andIsrael.
DuringWorld War I, in 1918, theWorld Zionist Organization set up a central office inCopenhagen in order to present the claims of the zionist Jews atthe Paris peace conference.
From 9 April 1940, to August 1943, the Danish Jewish community was safe frompersecution. The Danishunderground smuggled 7,000 Jews toSweden. This act brought to the endowment of thehonorificRighteous Among Nations to theDanish resistance movement, and it is found at the base of the bilateral relations of the countries. Every 5 years, the rescue operation is commemorated and celebrated in both countries. In addition, inJerusalem (1962) andHaifa (2013), there are special sculpture monuments dedicated to the rescue ofDanish Jews, set in plazas bearing the name "Denya (Denmark) Square". In Jerusalem, there is aschool named in Denmark'shonor. KingChristian X hospital inEitanim is named after Denmark's king duringWorld War II. InCopenhagen, the main monument the Stone atIsraels Plads (1968).[1][2] TheRyvangen Memorial Park inHellerup (1950) has references toDanish underground members who risked their lives to rescueJews. Two memorial monuments more exist next to the wharves from where the Jews were sent toSweden inGilleleje andKøge.
Denmark voted for thepartition of Palestine in 1947 and supports Israel in theUnited Nations. Denmark has an embassy in Israel, and Israel has had an embassy in Copenhagen since 1949.[3][4] Denmark recognized and established diplomatic relations with Israel on 2 February 1949.[5]
During the first decades of the existence of theState of Israel, manyDanes admired the young country, striving to flourish amid hostile neighbors, basing itself onsocialist values. Thousands of Danes came tovolunteer starting the 1960s in Israelikibbuzim. It is estimated that over 2,000 Danes came to volunteer inIsrael, and that 20 out of 179parliament members in 2010 were actual kibbutz volunteers in their past.
In 2003, On the 60th anniversary of the end ofWorld War II, the former prime minister,Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told a crowd of people that the actions of Nazi collaborators are a stain on Denmark's otherwise good reputation. Because of the rescue of all Danish Jews during World War II, theYad Vashem declared the collectiveDanish resistance asRighteous Among the Nations.[6]In May 2005, Denmark apologized for sending Jews toNazi concentration camps.
During the2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, there were protests in Copenhagen,Aarhus andOdense. In Copenhagen, the police estimated between 500 and 600 people demonstrated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen.[7] 400 people protested inAarhus, and 500 inOdense.[8]
The political lives of the two states have been somewhat intertwined: The former Israeli minister of social and diaspora affairsMichael Melchior was born in Denmark and is the son of former chief rabbi in Copenhagen,Bent Melchior, the nephew of former Danish minister of traffic and minister of tourism and communicationArne Melchior, and the grandson of the acting rabbi for the Jewish refugees from Denmark in Sweden 1943–45,Marcus Melchior; the executive director of thePeres Center for Peace 2001–2011,Ron Pundak, who played an important role in starting theOslo peace process and was part of the core group behind theGeneva Initiative, is the son of the influential Danish journalistHerbert Pundik; and prominent Israeli politicianYohanan Plesner, former chairman of thePlesner Committee, is the son of Danish architectUlrik Plesner.
In January 1962, Viggo Kampmann,Danish Prime minister, was the first senior figure from Denmark to ever visit Israel. He inaugurated, during his visit, the "Denya Square" inJerusalem in a ceremony attended also by the formerprime minister of Israel,David Ben-Gurion andJerusalem's mayor,Mordechai Ish-Shalom. In 1965,prime ministerJens Otto Krag, visited Israel, and in 1972, foreign affair minister,Knud Børge Andersen paid his visit. In 1983,Danish Prime minister,Poul Schlüter, visitedIsrael, being the first figure to visit Israel, pertaining to theConservative People's Party, while all previous belonged to theSocial democrats Party.
In 2002 Israel's foreign affair minister,Shimon Peres, visitedDenmark to meet with his counterpart and the prime minister, in honor of Denmark's presidency of theEuropean Union for that year. During the visit, a beer glass was thrown at him as he was walking through theTivoli Gardens.[9]
In 2013,Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark visitedIsrael, being the first Danish, andScandinavian, royal to ever visitIsrael. He met withPresident Peres, who expressed the gratitude of Israel to the Danish people for their actions to rescue Jews during theHolocaust.[10][11]
In 2016,Lars Løkke Rasmussen paid a private tour to Israel, where he met Israeli Prime minister,Benjamin Netanyahu[12]
In 2018,the Israeli president,Reuven Rivlin, visitedDenmark to mark the 75th anniversary of therescue of the Danish Jews. During the most covered visit, he spoke at theGilleleje church and at theJewish synagogue ofCopenhagen.[13]
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