The German government's ban on arms exports is causing disappointment in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply criticized the ban after a telephone conversation with Chancellor Merz (CDU).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Germany of rewarding the Islamist Hamas with its decision to impose a partial arms export ban. He expressed his disappointment in a phone call with Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday, his office said.
"Instead of supporting Israel's just war against Hamas, which has perpetrated the most brutal attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Germany is rewarding Hamas's terror with an arms embargo against Israel," Netanyahu's office wrote on the Israeli prime minister's official X-account. Netanyahu stated that Israel's goal is not to take over the Gaza Strip, but to liberate it from Hamas and establish a peaceful government there.
Israel had announced it would expand its military operation in the Gaza Strip. After hours of deliberations, the Israeli security cabinet decided to capture the city of Gaza. The largest city in the Gaza Strip has been the target of multiple Israeli attacks since the war began some 22 months ago.
Five principles were also adopted to end the war in the Gaza Strip: the disarmament of the Islamist Hamas, the return – alive or dead – of all hostages, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli security control of the coastal area, and the establishment of a civil administration that would be subordinate neither to the terrorist organization Hamas nor to the Palestinian Authority.
The German government responded with measures against its partner. Chancellor Merz announced that, for the time being, no exports of military equipment that could be used in this war would be approved. In recent weeks, the German government had increasingly sharply criticized Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip and the resulting humanitarian catastrophe. The fact that it is now partially halting its arms exports represents a change of course toward Israel in the Middle East conflict.
Merz receives sharp criticism
Merz's announcement met with some fierce criticism in Germany."This change of course runs counter to all the expressions of solidarity and promises the Chancellor has made since taking office," said Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, in Berlin. Israel is attacked and bombarded with rockets daily by enemies."Depriving Israel of the opportunity to defend itself against such threats endangers its existence."
A sharp reaction also came from the Junge Union (Young Union)."Raison d'état dismissed? A breach of the principles of Union policy," the youth organization wrote on Instagram. JU chairman and CDU member of the Bundestag, Johannes Winkel, wrote on X:"Starting today, Israel will do our dirty work, only without German weapons."
dpa/saha
