In turnabout following sharp criticism, Germany voices support for Israel

After warning last week that a partial arms embargo was possible, the German foreign minister told parliament that weapons deliveries would continue.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

After slamming Israel for weeks over IDF operations in the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the German government made an about-face and voiced strong support for the Jewish state Wednesday.

Speaking in the Bundestag, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul emphasized the “historical commitment of the German state” to Israel’s security and its existence and downplayed recent public criticism as being suggestions made “between friends.”

He made sure to castigate Hamas for its “ongoing terror” against Israel and for still holding 58 of the 251 hostages taken on October 7, 2023, only 20 of whom are still alive.

“Not even the bodies are being released,” he noted, “which is why Germany needs to know where it stands – on the side of the State of Israel.”

“There is complete unity within the coalition” on this stance, he said.

Considering that Israel was still being threatened by terrorist organizations Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as their paymaster, Iran, “Germany will continue to support Israel, including with weapons deliveries,” he added.

These statements are in sharp contrast to recent remarks that both he and Germany’s leader have made.

On May 26, Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacted to Hamas reports of growing numbers of casualties from Operation Gideon’s Chariots in Gaza by condemning Israel.

“To harm the civilian population in such a way as has increasingly been the case in recent days can no longer be justified by a fight against Hamas terrorism,” he stated.

The next day, Merz said at a summit in Finland, “The massive military strikes by the Israelis in the Gaza Strip no longer reveal any logic to me” in how they “serve the goal of confronting terror.”

That same day, Wadephul told a forum in Berlin that Israel’s “policy” of supplying too little humanitarian aid along with “a very strong intensification of military operations, obviously with the aim of driving the population more and more into the south,” was breaking international law and “cannot receive Germany’s support.”

Since “we defend the rule of law everywhere,” he said, if it is being violated, then “we will…certainly not supply weapons that would lead to further violations.”

Merz’s junior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, followed up on the threat a few days later, calling for an arms embargo against the Jewish state because “German weapons must not be used to spread humanitarian catastrophes and to violate international law,” a party spokesperson told Stern magazine in an interview.

On Friday, Wadephul then said that Germany was conducting a “review” of Israel’s actions to see if they complied with international law, saying that this could incur a partial suspension of arms exports.

Wadephul has faced criticism regarding the idea of halting arms sales to Israel both from members of his own party and from the Opposition, including Bundestag Vice President and Green party MK Omid Nouripour, who met with Foreign Minister Gidon Saar in Jerusalem on Wednesday along with other German officials.

After the meeting, Saar thanked Nouripour for “his clear moral call against an arms embargo of Israel.”

Saar left for Germany on Thursday on a state visit and is scheduled to meet with Wadephul, among other top officials, and have discussions with representatives of the Jewish community.