Tourism Minister: I Won’t Go to Germany

To promote Israel as a travel destination, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin is willing to go most anywhere – except Germany. In an interview with Yisrael Hayom, Levin said that he had no current plans to visit Germany, despite several invitations to do so – nor would he consider a visit in the future, either.

Last week, for example, Levin missed a major tourism show in Germany, where Israel traditionally has a large booth. The show is a venue for the development of major deals between hotels and tour groups from around Europe. Levin was absent, although a large Tourism Ministry staff was on hand to man the booth.

Last month, Levin turned down an opportunity to visit Germany with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who tried to recruit him to join other ministers as part of the official Israeli delegation.

“I consider relations between Israel and Germany to be very important,” said Levin in the interview. “I have met with many representatives of German here in Israel. With that, I definitely have a problem visiting Germany.”