JERUSALEM: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reaffirmed Berlin\u2019s support for Israel during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem on Sunday before talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
Merz flew into Israel the day before for his first trip to the country since traditionally solid ties between the two nations were shaken by the Gaza war.<\/p>\n
During the visit to Yad Vashem, Merz said \u201cGermany must stand up for the existence and security of Israel,\u201d after acknowledging his country\u2019s \u201cenduring historical responsibility\u201d for the mass extermination of Jews during the Second World War.<\/p>\n
The German leader arrived on Saturday was met at Tel Aviv\u2019s Ben Gurion airport by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who called Merz \u201ca friend of Israel.\u201d He then met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem the same day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI consider it a great honor and a truly great distinction to be here and to reaffirm that standing by this country is and will remain the unchanging core principle of the Federal Republic of Germany\u2019s policy,\u201d Merz said.<\/p>\n
Given the legacy of Nazi Germany\u2019s industrial-scale murder of Jews, German leaders have long seen unflinching support for Israel as a bedrock of the country\u2019s foreign policy.<\/p>\n
– \u2018No place for antisemitism\u2019 –<\/p>\n
Merz held talks with Jordan\u2019s King Abdullah II during a brief stopover there earlier on Saturday. Their discussions focused largely on the peace process in Israel and the Palestinian territories, he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Merz called for more humanitarian aid to flow into the Gaza Strip and for Hamas fighters to lay down their weapons, adding that both Jordan and Germany remained committed to a negotiated two-state solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere can be no place for terrorism and antisemitism in this shared future,\u201d Merz said.<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s royal palace said in a statement that Abdullah had stressed \u201cthe need to commit to implementing all stages of the agreement to end the war and deliver humanitarian aid to all areas of the Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n
The king also warned of \u201cthe danger of continued Israeli escalations in the West Bank,\u201d which Israel has occupied since 1967.<\/p>\n
Hamas\u2019s lead negotiator and its Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said on Saturday that the group was ready to hand over its weapons in the Gaza Strip to a future Palestinian government, provided that Israel\u2019s occupation had ended.<\/p>\n
He also said Hamas would \u201caccept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force\u201d ensuring the ceasefire but rejected the idea of any international force with a mission to disarm the militant group.<\/p>\n
– German criticism –<\/p>\n
Israeli-German ties were shaken during the Gaza war, with Merz, who took power in May, repeatedly criticizing Israel\u2019s relentless military campaign, which has killed more than 70,350 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.<\/p>\n
The war was sparked by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.<\/p>\n
In August, he also moved to restrict German sales of weapons for use in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Since a fragile US-backed ceasefire and hostage deal brought a halt to full-scale fighting, Germany has lifted those export restrictions.<\/p>\n
Despite the ceasefire, more than 360 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, as well as three Israeli soldiers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe actions of the Israeli army in Gaza have posed some dilemmas for us (and) we have responded to them,\u201d Merz said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
But, he added: \u201cIsrael has the right to defend itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Defense deals –<\/p>\n
Although Merz\u2019s public criticism of Israel was unusual for a German leader, it was measured by international standards.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, German officials have said there are currently no plans to invite Netanyahu to Berlin.<\/p>\n
The Israeli leader faces an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Gaza from the International Criminal Court.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year however, Merz vowed to invite the Israeli leader and told him he would not be arrested.<\/p>\n
Nor have any tensions disrupted key military ties. Germany last week put into operation the first phase of the Israeli-made Arrow missile defense shield.<\/p>\n
The $4.5-billion deal was reportedly the largest arms export agreement in Israeli history.<\/p>\n
Before leaving Berlin, Merz spoke with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said Merz underscored German support for a two-state solution but urged Abbas to push through \u201curgently necessary reforms\u201d of the PA in order to play a \u201cconstructive role\u201d in the postwar order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JERUSALEM: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reaffirmed Berlin\u2019s support for Israel during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem on Sunday before talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Merz flew into Israel the day before for his first trip to the country since traditionally solid ties between the two nations were shaken by …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":90720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90721,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90710\/revisions\/90721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}