mr. netenyahu there in berlin?porter: he has a meeting, adrian, as you were saying with angela merkel due to take place in a couple of hours, and then perhaps more importantly tomorrow morning here in the german capitol he is also due to meet the american secretary of state john kerry who in theory at this stage at least will then travel on to the middle east later in the week and meet president abbas, perhaps in r ramallah and remay travel to jordan as well. with regards to what the germans are saying, they are saying all of the kinds of things you could imagine, that both sides need to de-escalate the situation. in that israel has the right to protect its citizens but any measures it takes have to be proportionate. >> germany has responded to those remarks that mr. netenyahu made about palestinian involvement in the holocaust, hasn't it? >> reporter: yes, that's right. there is an extraordinary irony that this whole row has blown up on the day that benjamin netenyahu flies to germany itself. he said as you said c

mr. netenyahu, no, we disagree with your interpretation of what happened in the early 1940s in europe. >>ell us more about the reason of his vision -- visit and what he is likely to achieve there? >> reporter: he was meant to come to germany some ten days ago and canceled his visit because of the worsening situation at home. but it is part of, we hope some sort of diplomatic initiative. we'll be meeting with angela merkel this evening. we'll be meeting with the foreign minister tomorrow. he'll be meeting the head of the e.u. foreign policy tomorrow, and we'll be meeting john kerry the american secretary of state. and the idea is after that meeting, mr. kerry will fly on to the middle east and meet mahmoud abbas. what we are hearing from the germans is that there must be a deescalation of tension, that yes, israel has the right to protect its own citizens, but such a response has to be proportionate. and for the americans. more diplomacy by john kerry. >> barnaby phillips live in berlin, thank you. >>> syria's president, bashar al-assad has made a surprise visit to moscow to meet vladimir

mr. president, the situation is indeed dire, but there is a way forward. just yesterday, prime minister netenyahuressed his willingness to meet with the palestinian leadership with president abbas, in order to bring calm to the region. two weeks ago, prime minister netenyahu stood here and declared he is ready for direct negotiation with the palestinians without any precondition. if this council is serious about promoting peace, it must insist that president abbas comes to the negotiation table. israel's historic agreement with egypt as well as with jordan proves that only direct negotiation can lead to real and lasting peace. thank you mr. president. >> i could like to thank the representative of israel, and now i would like to give the floor to members of the security council. first of all i would like to give the floor to the ambassador of jordan. >> mr. president, i should like to express my deep thanks and gratitude to you for agreeing to organize this special session. jordan called for this urgent meeting in light of the urgent need to deal with the latest developments in palestinian territ