{"id":1178767,"date":"2026-08-31T09:46:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T09:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1178767\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T09:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T09:46:19","slug":"merz-calls-germany-israel-reconciliation-greatest-achievement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1178767\/","title":{"rendered":"Merz calls Germany-Israel reconciliation \u2018greatest achievement\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and German chancellor Friedrich Merz speak to the media during a joint press conference in Jerusalem, accessed on Aug. 31, 2026. (AFP Photo)<\/p>\n<p>\n                    August 31, 2026 12:32 PM GMT+03:00\n                <\/p>\n<p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany\u2019s reconciliation with Israel was one of the \u201cgreatest achievements\u201d since World War II, while stressing that Berlin\u2019s support for Israel is not unconditional.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to German public broadcaster ARD, Merz said Israel\u2019s willingness to reach out to Germany after the events of World War II had not been something that could be taken for granted.<\/p>\n<p>He added that Germany therefore had an even greater responsibility to defend Israel\u2019s right to exist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will not move back a single millimeter on this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"newspicture\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1280\/853;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/merz-calls-germany-israel-reconciliation-greatest-achievement-3227156_202608311218_20260831121808_1..jpeg\" alt=\"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz depart after a joint press conference in Jerusalem on December 7, 2025. (AFP Photo)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" data-width=\"2722\" data-height=\"1815\" meta-alt=\"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz depart after a joint press conference in Jerusalem on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Ariel Schalit \/ POOL \/ AFP via Getty Images)\"\/><br \/>\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/s\/i\/i-fotobuyut.svg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz depart after a joint press conference in Jerusalem on December 7, 2025. (AFP Photo)\n                <\/p>\n<p>            Merz says not all Israeli actions amount to self-defense<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether all Israeli actions in Gaza over recent months and years could be considered self-defense, Merz answered clearly: \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also criticized Israel\u2019s illegal E1 settlement project, which aims to separate East Jerusalem from the West Bank.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is happening there violates international law, and we say that very clearly and openly,\u201d Merz said.<\/p>\n<p>More to Read<\/p>\n<p>                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/region\/israel-may-expel-more-european-officials-from-gaza-ceasefire-center-3226899\" title=\"Israel may expel more European officials from Gaza ceasefire center\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/israel-considers-ousting-more-european-officials-from-gaza-ceasefire-center-3226899_20260827103151.j.jpeg\" class=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Israel may expel more European officials from Gaza ceasefire center\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/region\/uk-italy-france-and-germany-demand-israel-halt-west-bank-settlement-plans-3226498\" title=\"UK, Italy, France and Germany demand Israel halt West Bank settlement plans\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/uk-italy-france-and-germany-demand-israel-halt-west-bank-settlement-plans-3226498_20260820203247.jpg\" class=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"UK, Italy, France and Germany demand Israel halt West Bank settlement plans\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>            Germany\u2019s support for Israel \u2018not unconditional\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Merz emphasized that Germany\u2019s support for Israel was not without limits.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to Berlin\u2019s decision in August last year to impose restrictions on arms supplies to Israel as an example of that position.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/s\/i\/i-share.svg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>August 31, 2026 12:32 PM GMT+03:00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and German chancellor Friedrich Merz speak to the media during a joint&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1178768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824],"class_list":["post-1178767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-germany"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117189492123907689","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1178768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1178767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}