JJP lobbies German Embassy about its policy on Israel

On 29 April 2024, JJP wrote to the German Embassy about its policy towards Israel, and in particular about its changing policy towards Israel’s assault on Gaza. We raised the German Statsraason of unconditional support for Israel’s security, above everything else, as a serious problem.

Our Ietter

Dr Clemens Kohnen 29 April 2024

Minister-Counsellor (Political)

Embassy of Germany

Dear Dr Kohnen,

We are writing to request a meeting with you to discuss German government policy towards Israel and its attack on Gaza, and in the longer term the need to end the Israeli occupation in order to create the conditions for peace.

We have seen the German government’s attitude to the Israeli offensive in Gaza gradually change from complete support for Israel’s response after the atrocious Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on 7 October, to calls for a ceasefire and growing criticism of the horrendous civilian death toll among Palestinian civilians. We noted Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s pointed remarks about impending famine in Gaza and her disgust at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s attempts to make light of it during a meeting in Jerusalem on 17 April.

Yet the German government intervened on Israel’s behalf with the International Court of Justice in the case alleging genocide in Gaza without even waiting for the Court to deliberate, and it has continued to allow unabated export of weapons to Israel. In fact,185 export licenses were granted during the first two and a half months of the Israeli offensive.

In all this we see a German government that knows Israel is breaking international law but is unwilling to act on the plain fact that Israel is flouting the principles of proportionality and distinction which are central to protection of civilians in time of war and is therefore committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, no less than Hamas did in its attack on October 7. That fact was acknowledged by large groups of international lawyers, historians and legal scholars several months ago.

As a result of the continuing German weapons exports, two lawsuits against the government were filed in the Berlin Administrative Court this month. They follow the case brought against Germany by Nicaragua in the International Court of Justice requesting “provisional measures as a matter of extreme urgency… with respect to Germany’s ‘participation in the ongoing plausible genocide and serious breaches of international humanitarian law and other peremptory norms of general international law occurring in the Gaza Strip”.

The ICJ may soon judge that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, in which case it may well also judge that Germany has been complicit in it. This cannot be a situation Germany wants to be in. The only way for Germany to extricate itself from this trap is to cease allowing export of weapons to Israel until it agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza. It would be following the example of Canada, Spain, Belgium and Holland.

We have great respect for German political leaders’ willingness to acknowledge German state responsibility for the holocaust and make a commitment to human rights. However, we believe interpreting this as the non-negotiable “Staatsräson” of “Germany’s special historical responsibility for Israel’s security”, as expressed by Angela Merkel in Jerusalem in 2008, created a moral contradiction by not coupling it with a special responsibility to support international law and the rights of all peoples. It placed German support for Israel’s security above its support for international law. The contradiction is acute when the state of Israel traduces another people’s rights.

António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, spoke truth to the Security Council on 24 October. He said “the deadly assault by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum… the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation…” In the long term, a way must be found to end Israel’s occupation and grant the Palestinians their right to self determination as the only way to create the conditions for peace.

In common with almost all western leaders, Chancellor Scholz acknowledged that very soon after the 7 October attack. He has done so several times since. It is very welcome that last week Germany announced it will resume funding for UNRWA, based on the Colonna review concluding that Israel had failed to provide evidence to support its allegation of UNRWA employees taking part in the Hamas attack.

But the question remains: Will Germany and other influential western countries be willing to apply the necessary diplomatic and economic pressure on Israel if a future Israeli government continues preferring domination and periodic major violence to peace? In 2018, in concert with eight other EU member states, Germany showed itself willing to apply pressure on Israel to prevent demolition of the village of Kahn Al-Ahmar. (Our letter at the time to the nine London embassies about the issue is also enclosed.) We urge your government to be willing to do so again should it become necessary to impel Israel to grant the Palestinians their right to self-determination.

We hope to hear from you shortly to arrange a meeting.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur Goodman
Parliamentary and Diplomatic Liaison Officer