Germany switches tone on ‘Israel’, stuck between rock and hard place

Germany is one of “Israel’s” staunchest supporters and its second-largest arms supplier amid “Israel’s” brutal genocide in Gaza, but Germany’s changing tone against “Israel” is bringing longstanding bilateral and historical ties to a looming strain. 

One of the first Western leaders to go to “Israel” after October 7 was German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who declared to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that Germany has “only one place — and it is alongside Israel.”

It’s worth noting that Germany prides itself in saying that it stands by “Israel” for its “Staatsräson”, a “national reason for existence,” as reparation for the Holocaust.

However, Scholz asked Netanyahu last week, “No matter how important the goal… can it justify such terribly high costs?” – especially after citing concerns about the skyrocketing death toll in Gaza which in now nearing 33,000. 

Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin, said, “What changed for Germany is that it’s untenable, this unconditional support for Israel,” adding, “In sticking to this notion of Staatsräson, they gave the false impression that Germany actually offered carte blanche to Netanyahu.”

This alteration in position seems to follow suit of the first arms supplier and ally, the United States, particularly after recently the US administration showed constant dissatisfaction with “Israel’s” behaviors – namely regarding the occupation’s intent to invade Rafah.

This comes as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) annual study issued earlier this month revealed that 30% of “Israel’s” weapons are provided by Germany while the US provides 69% of it and Italy the remaining 0.9%.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced recently her intention to send a delegation to “Israel” because her country “is obliged to remind all parties of their duty to abide by international humanitarian law” as a signatory of the Geneva Conventions. 

From the heart of “Tel Aviv”, Baerbock described the situation in Gaza as horrific, with residents trying to satisfy their most basic daily needs to survive. During a trip to “Israel” meeting officials on Tuesday, Baerbock called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “hell” and called for “unhindered” delivery of vital aid while she was in “Tel Aviv”.

“People cannot vanish into thin air,” she expressed.

Damage control

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, took to social media to lash out and said, “We expect our friends to continue supporting Israel during these challenging times and not weaken it against the terrorist organization Hamas.”

The heightened insensibility toward human rights and humanitarian aid is becoming more prominent and has been called out by leaders in the Global South, such as Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim earlier this month. 

“We oppose colonialism, or apartheid, or ethnic cleansing, or dispossession of any country, be it in Ukraine, or in Gaza,” Anwar told journalists with Scholz beside him. “Where have we thrown our humanity? Why this hypocrisy?”

Jürgen Hardt, the foreign policy spokesperson for the center-right Christian Democrats in the Parliament, argued that what Germany could do is restore funding to the UN agency aiding Palestinians, UNRWA, after funding was suspended due to Israeli allegations of the agency working with Hamas. 

However, even though Germany claimed it would fund UNRWA again but in areas outside Gaza, Baerbock made no mention of the defunding matter during her trip this week. The German government announced a $48.7 million fund for UNRWA offices in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank of occupied Palestine, excluding Gaza.

“That could be one small action,” Mr. Benner, the foreign policy analyst, said. “But I think the damage is already done in terms of German credibility. Now, it’s a mission of damage control.”