Last week the Swiss Minister of Defence Ueli Maurer completed a three-day trip to Israel that was replete with honors – and, of course, backlash. At Zurich airport, as he was leaving, Maurer was met with the protest that his trip would jeopardize Swiss commitment to the Mid-East peace process. Hmm…didn’t realize the Swiss were even involved in that process. Were they saying the same during Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey’s now infamous trip to Iran back in 2008? When she cozied up to Ahmadinejad – in exchange for gas of course! – and even donned a hijab in a particularly cringeworthy moment?
Maurer is an animal of a different kind. He’s the guy who wants to make Switzerland’s (non-professional) army the best in the world. It’s kind of funny really. But if you want to be the best, you copy the best, right? Hence the trip to Israel and the touring of military bases. He also visited Yad Vashem and lit a candle, which though de rigeur, is important for someone who probably did not arrive with a thorough knowledge of the Holocaust.
Does Maurer’s trip mark a change in Swiss-Israeli relations? That remains unclear. Although the cabinet supported the trip, Maurer is somewhat of an outcast in the government, alternately viewed as uneducated or too right-wing. Is this just another case of predictable fault lines being drawn?
