And can any of us thrive when jewish teenagers wear the israeli flag over their shoulders at Auschwitz?

Well, I didn't mean to be that dramatic. The holocaust is a central part of the Israeli national identity. For these kids, I imagine, Auschwitz is almost literally the ashes upon which their country was built -- the main raison d'être for the state Israel. The personal, national, moral and historical elements are all mixed.

They might not take too kindly to the Bundeswehr, though, especially when it is near their border. I don't think that the personal feelings of Israeli soldiers were considered by the German government, because the topic might be taboo. In some ways it presupposes a lack of professionalism on part of the IDF. But it's dangerous to just assume that Israeli pilots won't be more trigger happy when it comes to the German army in particular.

Israel is of concern to our well-being because it is a state with nuclear weapons that has volatile relations with its neighbours, some of whom are the main sources for the oil that drives our economy. That is a real threat. Otherwise Israel matters little to our own well-being.