Netanyahu’s ‘incomprehensible’ war has broken the barrier against criticizing Israel in Germany

A general view shows destruction in North Gaza, as seen from Israel

David Issacharoff writes in Haaretz on 27 May 2025:

Will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu end up missing leaders like U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, both ousted from office this year by seemingly more sympathetic, right-wing leaders?

While Netanyahu can always accuse left-leaning leaders who criticize Israel’s war in Gaza (without actually doing anything about it) of succumbing to domestic antisemitic forces, he has had little to nothing to say publicly about pro-Israel allies like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, leader of the center-right Christian Democrats, who sharply rebuked Israel’s latest offensive in Gaza on Tuesday, saying “what is currently happening is no longer comprehensible.”

Like U.S. President Donald Trump, who forced the previous hostage deal on him, it seems that only right-wing leaders have any sway over the defiant prime minister as he wages a politically motivated war of destruction on Gaza that kills dozens of Palestinians every day, according to Gaza’s health officials.

“When Merz raises this criticism against Israel, we listen very carefully, because he is a friend,” Israel’s ambassador in Berlin, Ron Prosor, candidly told Germany’s ZDF channel.  Prosor usually bashes any criticism of the Jewish state as Jew-hatred. His restraint revealed a stark truth: Israel is willing to listen only to its conservative, right-wing allies.

As Merz framed his denunciation of Israel’s Gaza warfare with a reiteration of Germany’s historical commitment to Israel’s security, his foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, rejected an arms embargo. He vaguely acknowledged that there is a line beyond which such measures could be considered – a threshold Israel has apparently not yet crossed.

What was clear, however, was that something had cracked in the tightly guarded barrier against criticism of Israel in Germany.

After Merz uploaded a video criticizing Israel’s offensive to his Instagram page, a left-wing activist wrote, “I can’t believe I just liked a Merz reel,” with other prominent pro-Palestinians adding to the likes. As someone who once vowed to criticize Israel only behind closed doors, Germany’s chancellor showed a distinct departure from that approach.

Will he go beyond rhetoric and allow Germany to join fellow EU nations in taking measures against Netanyahu’s far-right government?

“I believe the right decision is to refrain from arms deliveries [to Israel] now,” said Rolf Mützenich, a prominent member of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the junior coalition partner. The leader of the party’s youth faction, Philipp Türmer, called suspending arms transfers “an important lever to exert pressure for resolving the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.” Finance Minister and SPD leader Lars Klingbeil confirmed that the government intends to increase political pressure on Israel.

This suggests that real pressure may be placed on the SPD, which cannot absolve itself of responsibility by merely echoing Merz. It must go beyond him as the ground shifts, demonstrating through concrete steps that its role in the coalition carries real weight.

Germany’s leaders would do well to listen to actual Israelis, including those living in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Hundreds of these Israelis living abroad protested outside the German Foreign Ministry, and around 1,000 across Europe, on Tuesday, calling for measures against the Netanyahu government to help end the Gaza war.

The organizers wrote, “When international law is violated so openly, when entire communities are displaced and starved, when the killing of civilians is justified under the banner of self-defense, business as usual with Israel makes Europe complicit in crime.”

German leaders must stop repeating that they are responsible for guaranteeing Israel’s right to exist. Their obligation, rather, is to question the way it exists, especially with their support.

A friend of Israel, Merz must choose between only going viral on Instagram or doing all he can to prevent the horrific killing of Palestinian children in Gaza, which Netanyahu has shown no intention of stopping anytime soon.

This article is reproduced in its entirety