As Gaza Faces Starvation, Reluctant Germany Starts to Curb Support for Israel
Conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, hitherto a staunchly pro-Israel leader, made the announcement on Friday arguing that Israel's actions would not achieve its stated war goals of eliminating Hamas militants or bringing Israeli hostages home.
It is a bold move for a leader who after winning elections in February said he would invite Benjamin Netanyahu to Germany in defiance of an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister issued by the International Criminal Court.
The shift reflects how Germany's come-what-may support for Israel, rooted in its historical guilt over the Nazi Holocaust, is being tested like never before as the high Palestinian civilian death toll in Gaza, massive war destruction and images of starving children are chipping away at decades of policy.
"It is remarkable as it is the first concrete measure of this German government. But I would not see it as a U-turn, rather a 'warning shot'," said Muriel Asseburg, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
It caps months of the German government sharpening its tone over Israel's escalating military campaign in the small, densely populated Palestinian enclave, though still shying away from tougher steps that other European countries and some voices in Merz's ruling coalition were calling for.
The suspension of arms deliveries to Israel would affect just those that could be used in Gaza.
The move reflects a hardening mood in Germany, where public opinion has grown critical of Israel and more demanding that its government help ease a humanitarian disaster - most of the 2.2 million population is homeless and Gaza is a sea of rubble.
According to an ARD-DeutschlandTREND survey released on Thursday, a day before Merz's announcement, 66% of Germans want their government to put more pressure on Israel to change its behavior.
That is higher than April 2024, when some 57% of Germans believed their government should criticize Israel more strongly than before for its actions in Gaza, a Forsa poll showed.
Despite Germany helping air drop aid to Gaza, 47% of Germans think their government is doing too little for Palestinians there, against 39% who disagree with this, the ARD-DeutschlandTREND this week showed.
Most strikingly perhaps, only 31% of Germans feel they have a bigger responsibility for Israel due to their history - a core tenet of German foreign policy - while 62% do not.
Germany's political establishment has cited its approach, known as the "Staatsraison", as a special responsibility for Israel after the Nazi Holocaust, which was laid out in 2008 by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel to the Israeli parliament.
Reflecting that stance days before his most recent trip to Israel in July, Merz's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told Die Zeit newspaper that Berlin could not be a "neutral mediator".
"Because we are partisan. We stand with Israel," he said, echoing similar statements by other conservative figures in Merz's party.
But Merz's junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), had already been more explicit in wanting to put sanctions against Israel on the table.
Adis Ahmetovic, an SPD foreign policy spokesperson, said suspending weapons shipments was only the first step.
"More must follow, such as a full or partial suspension of the (European Union) Association Agreement or the medical evacuation of seriously injured children, in particular," Ahmetovic told Stern magazine. "Furthermore, sanctions against Israeli ministers must no longer be taboo."
MEDIA DIVISION
The deepening divide within Germany has also played out in its media landscape.
In two major editorials published in late July, Der Spiegel magazine accused Israel of violating international humanitarian law and condemned what it said was the German government's complicity. The front cover displayed a picture of Gaza women holding out empty bowls with the headline: "A Crime".
Meanwhile Bild, the mass-market daily owned by Axel Springer, Germany's largest media group, decried the lack of outrage toward Islamist Hamas whose cross-border assault on Israeli communities triggered the war, pointing to what it saw as growing anti-Israel sentiment and one-sided protests.
Filipp Piatov, a Bild reporter whose X account is followed by Merz, accused the chancellor on Friday of doing exactly what he had criticized others for, "that Germany is cutting off support to its ally in the middle of a war."
Israel denies having a policy of starvation in Gaza, and says Hamas, which killed some 1,200 people in its October 7, 2023 attack and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, could end the crisis by surrendering.
Israel's ground and air war in Gaza has killed over 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Critics had argued that Germany's approach has been overly hesitant, weakening the West's collective ability to apply meaningful pressure for an end to the fighting and restrictions on humanitarian aid to the Israeli-besieged enclave.
Germany had hitherto even been cautious about a modest sanction such as supporting the partial suspension of Israel's access to the EU's flagship research funding program.
There are other reasons for Germany's reluctance to criticize Israel beyond its Nazi past, analysts say, including its strong trading relationship with Israel and the United States.
Germany is Israel's second biggest weapons supplier after the US, but also buys arms from Israel as part of a massive revamp of its armed forces since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That includes the Arrow-3 missile interception system.
Last week, Israeli defense company Elbit Systems announced a $260 million deal with Airbus to equip the German Air Force's A400M planes with directed infrared defense systems.
"German arrogance should be avoided," Volker Beck, a former member of parliament and the head of the German-Israeli Society, told Reuters.
"If Israel were to retaliate by restricting arms deliveries to Germany, the future of German air security would look grim."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
US defers to Israel on killing of journalists
WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday declined to criticize Israel over the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in the Gaza Strip, referring questions to its ally. The Israeli military alleged that Anas Al-Sharif, a prominent face on the Qatar-based network covering the violence, headed a Hamas 'terrorist cell' and was 'responsible for advancing rocket attacks' against Israelis. 'What I will tell you is that we refer you to Israel for information regarding Al-Sharif,' State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. She voiced respect for journalists who cover war zones but said that Hamas members have been 'embedded in society, including posing as journalists.' 'It is a horrible thing to do for those of you who are committed to finding information for people to be in that situation,' she said. European and Arab governments, the United Nations and media rights groups all voiced outrage over the killing. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that there needed to be 'clear evidence' for Israel's allegations and respect for rules of war against targeting journalists. Al Jazeera said four other employees — correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa — were also killed when the strike hit a tent set up for journalists outside the main gate of Al-Shifa Hospital. According to local journalists who knew him, Sharif had worked at the start of his career with a Hamas communication office, where his role was to publicize events organized by the group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2006.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel rejects UN allegations that its forces have sexually abused detained Palestinians
UNITED NATIONS: The UN chief warned Israel that the United Nations has 'credible information' of sexual violence and other violations by Israeli forces against detained Palestinians, which Israel's UN ambassador dismissed as 'baseless accusations.' Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to Ambassador Danny Danon that he is 'gravely concerned' about reported violations against Palestinians by Israeli military and security forces in several prisons, a detention center and a military base. Guterres said he was putting Israeli forces on notice that they could be listed as abusers in his next report on sexual violence in conflict 'due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations.' Danon, who circulated the letter and his response Tuesday, said the allegations 'are steeped in biased publications.' 'The UN must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas and the release of all hostages,' he said. Danon was referring to the militant group's surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, where some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage. Israeli authorities said women were raped and sexually abused. The Hamas attack triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but that about half were women and children. Danon stressed that 'Israel will not shy away from protecting its citizens and will continue to act in accordance with international law.' Because Israel has denied access to UN monitors, it has been 'challenging to make a definitive determination' about patterns, trends and the systematic use of sexual violence by its forces, Guterres said in the letter. He urged Israel's government 'to take the necessary measures to ensure immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence, and make and implement specific time-bound commitments.' The secretary-general said these should include investigations of credible allegations, clear orders and codes of conduct for military and security forces that prohibit sexual violence, and unimpeded access for UN monitors. In March, UN-backed human rights experts accused Israel of 'the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence.' The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said it documented a range of violations perpetrated against Palestinian women, men, girls and boys and accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the UN Human Rights Council, which commissioned the team of independent experts, as an 'anti-Israel circus' that 'has long been exposed as an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.' His statement did not address the findings themselves.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
How Israeli raids, settler violence and annexation plans are driving the West Bank toward crisis
LONDON: While global attention remains focused on the war in Gaza, the occupied West Bank has been sliding deeper into crisis, largely out of sight. Israeli military raids and settler violence against Palestinians have escalated sharply, intensifying tensions across the territory. The UN Human Rights Office has warned of growing settler violence 'with the acquiescence, support, and in some cases participation of Israeli forces.' In a July 30 statement, the UN agency described 'a pattern of the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force that resulted in the unlawful killing and injury of Palestinians' in the West Bank. The report further alleged that Israeli authorities are pursuing a wider strategy of displacement and annexation — claims the government rejects, insisting instead that its actions are a response to security threats posed by Palestinian militants. 'State policy and legislative actions appear aimed at emptying certain areas of the West Bank of the Palestinian population, advancing the settlement enterprise, and consolidating the annexation' of large parts of the territory, the statement added. That warning was followed almost immediately by a significant political development, as Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly declared that the current moment offered an opportunity to annex the West Bank — a move long opposed by much of the international community. 'Ministers Katz and Levin have been working for many years to implement Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,' their offices said in a joint statement on July 31, using the biblical name for the West Bank. 'At this very moment, there is a moment of opportunity that must not be missed.' The statement did not explain why now is the right opportunity, but it came on the heels of recent announcements by Western governments, including France and the UK, that they are prepared to recognize a Palestinian state. Just two days earlier, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel moved to end the crisis in Gaza, commit to a ceasefire, and revive a two-state solution. 'There is an understandable focus on Gaza given the genocide that is going on, the horrific amount of destruction, loss of life, the starvation of a civilian population,' Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding, told Arab News. 'Of course, that is far, far worse than anything that is currently happening in the West Bank.' But, he warned, the difference in scale does not diminish the danger. 'I think what is scary about the West Bank is that many Palestinians there feel that they are next — that what has happened in Gaza will be happening to them.' That fear is not unfounded. 'We've already seen an uptick in Israeli military operations, particularly in the north of the West Bank, inside refugee camps,' said Doyle. 'We've seen demolitions at record levels, record levels of settler violence, all helped by the Israeli military, and the forced displacement of so many communities.' He added that ultra-nationalist elements within the Israeli government, 'particularly those who are really engaged with the ultra-nationalist settler movement,' are 'doing everything they can to exploit the situation in Gaza to push forward with their plans in the West Bank.' That concern is echoed by Israeli rights group B'Tselem, which warned in July of 'clear and imminent danger that the genocide will not remain confined to Gaza.' In its report, titled 'Our Genocide,' B'Tselem warned that the assault on Gaza is inseparable from escalating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and within Israel. Indeed, violence in the West Bank has spiked since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, and escalated further after Israel launched Operation Iron Wall on Jan. 21, which the Israeli government says is aimed at tackling militant groups in the territory's north. International monitors, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Human Rights Watch, say the campaign has become increasingly indiscriminate, killing numerous noncombatants, including children. Save the Children reports at least 224 children were killed by Israeli forces or settlers between January 2023 and early 2025. OCHA says that from Oct. 7, 2023, to mid-July 2025, some 968 Palestinians — including 204 children — were killed in the West Bank. Civilians killed during this period include foreign nationals, such as Palestinian-American Khamis Al-Ayyad, whose family is seeking an investigation into his death in a settler attack on July 31. UN figures show around 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced — the largest such movement since the 1967 war — most of them from three refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem. Settler violence and military-imposed access restrictions have uprooted more than 2,200 more. House demolitions are also climbing. A new directive by the Israeli Civil Administration allows the military to raze Palestinian structures and expel around 1,200 residents from long-inhabited areas. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned such actions could constitute 'forcible transfer, which is a war crime.' The UN agency said in late June that such actions 'could also amount to a crime against humanity if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.' Israel says demolitions target unpermitted buildings, though Palestinians and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs note that such permits are nearly impossible to obtain. In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly injury toll from settler attacks in over 20 years. OHCHR counted 757 such attacks in the first seven months of 2025 — a 13 percent rise compared to the same period last year. UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang called these developments 'a critical moment in the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.' On July 28, he warned that 'while the situation in Gaza is dramatic, we must not lose sight of the deeply concerning and equally urgent situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.' Indeed, on Aug. 6, the Israeli government discussed building thousands of new housing units in the E1 area, east of occupied East Jerusalem. The project would link the Ma'ale Adumim settlement to Jerusalem, effectively bisecting the West Bank and isolating Palestinian communities. 'Not only would implementing the E1 doomsday settlement project split the West Bank into north and south, but also cement the separation of Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, as well as displacing around 12,500 Palestinians,' said Doyle. 'All of this, therefore, amounts to an extremely serious situation in the West Bank, which already exists under a regime of apartheid, where Israeli Jewish citizens of the State of Israel in settlements enjoy superior rights to Palestinians who are their neighbors.' The E1 plan, stalled since 2021 under US and EU pressure, envisions building more than 3,000 homes to the east of Jerusalem and is widely seen as a death blow to a future contiguous Palestinian state. In a joint statement in July, 31 Western nations, including the UK and France, announced their 'strong opposition' to the project, calling it 'a flagrant breach of international law' that would 'critically undermine the two-state solution.' However, the international community should be doing far more, said Doyle. He warned that the escalating situation in the West Bank 'does point to a fundamental failure of the international community, not just over the last 21-22 months, but actually over decades, to put an end to the settlement project — to reverse it. 'All of this, of course, has now been ordered by the International Court of Justice that says that Israel must withdraw from the settlements and pay reparations. And it is incumbent upon international actors to back that up and to take action to ensure that they are in no way complicit with Israel's regime of occupation.' The ICJ ruled in July 2024 that Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem is illegal under international law. It found that Israeli settlements and use of natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territories are unlawful. The court ordered Israel to end its occupation, dismantle settlements, provide full reparations to Palestinians, and facilitate the return of displaced people. With the West Bank facing ever-increasing violence, mass displacement, and aid restrictions, the question looms: Will the world act to prevent it becoming another Gaza?
