( dpa )- A "safe, stable Israel" is her aim, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a video podcast Saturday, one day before Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrives in Germany.
Germany supported a Mideast peace settlement in which the Israeli and a Palestinian state could coexist peacefully, she said.
Merkel added in the weekly online message that Germany and the European Union would do their utmost to support the Mideast peace process.
"Our mutual aim is that peace and stability be established in the region. That is why we support a two-state solution: A Jewish state of Israel as well as a Palestinian state," she said.
Olmert is set to stay two days in Berlin, meeting Merkel on Tuesday. Merkel said they would prepare for inter-governmental talks in Jerusalem in March.