{"id":334863,"date":"2025-08-11T04:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T04:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/334863\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T04:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T04:38:13","slug":"germanys-merz-on-the-defensive-at-home-over-israeli-arms-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/334863\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s Merz on the defensive at home over Israeli arms ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nOn Friday, Friedrich Merz’s launched an embargo on exporting some arms to Israel. By Monday morning, it’s already clear that many in his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party hates him for it.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nBy stopping the flow of weaponry that could be used in the bombardment on the Gaza Strip, the chancellor is effectively heralding a new era in the two countries\u2019 relationship.\n<\/p>\n

\nFor a start, the development marks the first time that Berlin has effectively imposed<\/a> sanctions on Israel over the current war. That’s proven unpopular inside his party, since Merz’s allies accuse him of abandoning Israel \u2013 making matters worse, they say he did not consult them first. And they have not been shy about making themselves heard.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe CSU was not involved in the decision; we consider it to be questionable\u201d, Alexander Hoffmann, who leads the Bavarian sister group of the CDU in the parliament,\u00a0<\/strong>told<\/a> daily BILD.\n<\/p>\n

\nOther MPs took to social media and TV to make their displeasure known.\n<\/p>\n

\nForeign policy deputy Roderick Kiesewetter called it a \u201cserious political and strategic mistake\u201d in a social media post.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the late 2000s, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, a long-time rival for Merz, declared Israel as Germany’s Staatsr\u00e4son, making\u00a0protection of the country a key national interest. By stopping the flow of arms, Germany was breaking \u201ca long-standing friendship and trust, while Staatsr\u00e4son remains an empty, unbelievable shell\u201d, Kiesewetter said. \u201cThis will not free a single hostage.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nMatthias Hauer, a state secretary at the research ministry, said the move was a \u201cdisastrous signal\u201d. Meanwhile, another Christian Democrat MP, Carsten M\u00fcller, \u201cstrongly condemned\u201d the move online<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\nOn Saturday, Merz sent out his head of cabinet, Thorsten Frei, hoping to quell the discontent. \u201cThere must be no doubt whatsoever that the basic principles of German policy towards Israel remain unchanged\u201d, he told dpa.\n<\/p>\n

\nSimultaneously, the chancellor’s office sent out a three-page document, published<\/a> by daily Welt, with additional explanations in hopes of heading off criticism. One reason cited for the move \u2013 avoiding \u201csocial conflicts in Germany and Europe\u201d \u2013 added fuel to the fire.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe must not allow foreign policy decisions to be influenced by the anti-Semitic mob on our streets\u201d, said Dennis Radtke, an MEP who heads the workers\u2019 wing in the party.\n<\/p>\n

\nA Sunday emergency meeting of the party\u2019s foreign policy experts with Merz advisor G\u00fcnter Sautter was quickly scheduled to quell the rebellion.\n<\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile, Merz himself took to the air waves to address both public and party at once.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe principles of German policy towards Israel remain unchanged,\u201d he told public broadcaster ARD in an interview. Berlin would \u201ccontinue to help [Israel] defend itself\u201d, Merz added.\n<\/p>\n

\nHowever, he added \u201cwe cannot supply weapons to a conflict that is now trying to be resolved exclusively by military means\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\nIsrael’s plans to occupy the entire region could cause \u201chundreds of thousands of civilian victims and require the evacuation of the entire city of Gaza\u201d, the German politician said.\u00a0“Where should these people go?”\n<\/p>\n

\n(jp)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Friday, Friedrich Merz’s launched an embargo on exporting some arms to Israel. By Monday morning, it’s already…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824],"class_list":{"0":"post-334863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115008287761750813","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334863","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=334863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}