Sixty years ago, on May 12, 1965, Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations after a long period of preparation. It was anything but a matter of course at the time: had ended just two decades earlier and the memory of Germany’s was present in both countries. Even now, 80 years after the end of the war, relations with Israel remain extremely important, but also difficult.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is coming to Berlin to mark the anniversary. Together with German President , he plans to visit the “Platform 17” Holocaust memorial at Grunewald station in southwest Berlin. Some 10,000 Jews were deported from the train station to concentration camps during the Nazi era.
Herzog will meet with more than 100 German and Israeli youth, well aware that has risen sharply, especially among young people in Germany, since the start of the more than a year and a half ago. Herzog and Steinmeier will then travel to Israel together and visit a kibbutz on the border with Gaza.
Merkel spoke of the ‘reason of state’ in the Knesset
The visit takes place during the first days of the new German government under Chancellor of the conservative (CDU). Like all chancellors before him, Merz is aware of Germany’s special responsibility for Israel.
When former German Chancellor (CDU) visited Israel in 2008 and spoke in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, she used the term . In her view, Germany has a special political responsibility for the existence and security of Israel.
The “reason of state” is a political maxim, not a legal one. But chancellors after Merkel (and most of those before her) have always acted and continue to act in line with this fundamental principle.
Despite all the criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza, German politicians have repeatedly emphasized that Israel has the right to defend itself after the . The European Union as well as the United States, Germany and several other countries classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. Almost 1,200 people were killed in the attack, and around 250 people were taken hostage.
In practice, however, fulfilling this maxim can be extremely difficult. Criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza is also growing in Germany. Israel has been blocking aid deliveries to the Palestinian territory since the beginning of March, resulting in hunger and death. The war in Gaza, which Israel started in retaliation for the 2023 Hamas attacks, has so far killed more than 52,600 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, according to figures from its health authorities regarded as reliable by international organizations.
In his first interview as chancellor, Merz told public broadcaster ARD: “Israel is of the utmost concern to us. The new foreign minister will be traveling to Israel next weekend on my behalf. I don’t want to anticipate. We are currently preparing this trip together. But it must be clear that the Israeli government must also fulfill its obligations under international law, under the international law of war.”
Netanyahu and the International Criminal Court
In November 2024, the against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, among others, over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Germany is one of the founding members of the ICC and would have to arrest Netanyahu if he came to Germany.
Nevertheless, the day after the German election in February, Merz said after a telephone conversation with Netanyahu that, as chancellor, he would find ways and means “to .” Merz has not repeated that phrase since his election as chancellor.
Instead, the new chancellor said on ARD: “Israel has the right to defend itself against this brutal attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and everything that followed. But Israel must also remain a country that lives up to its humanitarian obligations, especially where this terrible war is now taking place — in the Gaza Strip, where this confrontation with the Hamas terrorists is necessarily taking place.”
The dispute over the arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister shows how complicated the relationship between the two countries still is today, and how it is influenced by the Gaza war. Although the previous Foreign Minister , of the environmentalist Greens, often visited Israel after the outbreak of the war, Netanyahu’s last visit to Berlin was more than two years ago in March 2023, of the center-left (SPD).
Germany also holds so-called government “consultations” with Israel — meetings between the entire cabinets of both sides. The consultations are intended to underline the special importance of the relationship. Germany holds such meetings with just 12 countries worldwide. The last consultations with Israel took place more than seven years ago.
This article was originally written in German.
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