German Chancellor Condemns Israel To Bomb Gaza

JAKARTA - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered his most severe rebuke against Israel. Merz criticized the massive airstrikes in Gaza because they were no longer justified by the need to fight Hamas and "no longer understood".

The message reflects broader changes in public opinion but also the greater willingness of top-level German politicians to criticize Israel's actions since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attacks.

Merz's foreign minister Johann Wadephul also made similar criticisms, including calls from his junior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party. They have stopped arms exports to Israel or Germany will be involved in war crimes.

Although not a total change, this tone change is significant in a country where its leadership follows a special responsibility policy for Israel, known as Staatsraesson, due to its Nazi Holocaust heritage.

Germany, along with the United States, became one of Israel's most persistent supporters.

But Merz's remarks came as the European Union reviewed its policies against Israel and Britain, France, and Canada also threatened to take "concrete actions" against Gaza.

"The massive military attack by Israel in the Gaza Strip no longer shows any logic to me. How the attack served the goal of dealing with terror. In this case, I look at it very, very critically," Merz said in Turku, Finland.

"I'm also not the first to say it. However, it seems and to me it seems time for me to say publicly, (that) what is happening right now is no longer understandable," Merz stressed.

The statement came as a surprise considering Merz won the general election in February promising to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on German soil, which contradicts an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Merz also hung a picture of Zikim beach in the chancellor's office, where Hamas fighters arrived by boat during their 2023 action that killed about 1,200 people.

The Chancellor plans to talk to Netanyahu this week, as attacks on Gaza have killed dozens of people in recent days and its population of 2 million people is threatened with starvation.

He did not answer questions about German arms exports to Israel. Meanwhile, a government official said it was a matter that must be resolved by the security council chaired by Merz.

Israel's ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, acknowledged Germany's concerns but made no comment.

"When Friedrich Merz made this criticism of Israel, we listened carefully because he was a friend," Prosor told broadcaster ZDF.