By Stephen Mulvey

BBC News



It is possible that a peace enforcer would have to fire at an Israeli

"History is the past, but the history of the Holocaust belongs to the German present," said the Frankfurter Rundschau.

No German soldier should, even theoretically, "be brought into a situation where he has to aim his weapon at an Israeli", it added.

The Suddeutsche Zeitung said it was "astonishing" that politicians were discussing the idea, while Austria's Der Standard said it was "unthinkable" that the grandchildren of Holocaust perpetrators might find themselves shooting at the grandchildren of victims.

Responsibility

The secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Stephan Kramer, added his voice to those against German deployment.

I think Germany should take part in a multinational force enforcing peace in south Lebanon, but let's secure the Lebanon/Syria border

Malte Lehming, Der Tagesspiegel

He added that he would still be opposed if the Israeli government agreed.

It is 12 years since Germany's post-war constitution was changed to allow the use of armed force in international disputes.

In that time they have taken part in peacekeeping operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan and DR Congo.

But the prospect of peace enforcement in Lebanon raises new complications.

For Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, history actually burdens Germany with a responsibility not to walk away, but to get involved.

"I think this is appropriate given the difficult shared history between Germany and Israel," he told German broadcaster ZDF on Sunday.

'Never again'

His Social Democratic Party, like Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, is divided on the issue, while the three main opposition parties - the Greens, the Liberal FPD and the hard-left PDS - are against.

Germany has sent peacekeepers to the Balkans, Afghanistan and Africa

"It is impossible for a German soldier to use force against an Israeli soldier," says Mr Brok, head of the parliament's Foreign Affairs committee.

The opinion editor of Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel newspaper, Malte Lehming, agrees that this scenario would violate the main lesson of the last century: "Never again."

"I think Germany should take part in a multinational force enforcing peace in south Lebanon, but let's secure the Lebanon/Syria border where things like that are less likely to happen," he says.

"I think we can take that risk."

Casualties

Joerg Himmelreich of the German Marshall Fund argues that the nightmare scenario is not, in fact, at all likely.

The World Cup has shown how relaxed people feel about pride and their nation, without producing any kind of nationalist feelings

Elmar Brok

But he warns that German participation in Lebanon would be a new step for Germany in a different way, as it would be the first time German troops had taken part in a mission with a high probability of casualties.

How long will it be before Germany can contemplate the possibility of German peace-enforcers confronting Israeli troops?

"Maybe 10 years, 15 years..." says Malte Lehming.

"The World Cup has shown how relaxed people feel about pride and their nation, without producing any kind of nationalist feelings," says Elmar Brok.

"But we remember the past and we will not forget our responsibility."

Stephan Kramer thinks German soldiers will never be able to approach the borders of Israel.

"Even if it's the great-great-grandchildren, I cannot imagine it," he says.

"Around the world, almost everywhere, but not when there is a chance of confrontation with an Israeli soldier."