Just over 35 hours after the , German Chancellor addressed the issue in front of cameras for the first time. Merz spoke on Monday at an event organized by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) in Berlin, an engagement that had been scheduled for some time.
The event’s title was “New Times, New Answers,” and Merz uttered a sentence that hardly any chancellor would have said until recently: “There is no reason for us, nor for me personally, to criticize what Israel started a week ago. Nor is there any reason to criticize what America did last weekend. It is not without risk. But leaving things as they were was not an option either.”
In other words, not only Israel, but also the US is now doing the “dirty work” in the fight against Iran. Merz used this phrase last week at the summit in Canada to describe and praise the Israeli attacks. Not everybody in Germany liked this harsh choice of words.
The German government spent most of Sunday trying to assess the new situation. Merz spoke on the phone with French President and British Prime Minister . Afterward, the three issued a statement saying: “Our goal remains to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.” There was no criticism of the US attack. The statement continued: “We urge Iran not to take any further actions that could destabilize the region.”
Germany was not informed in advance — again
On Sunday morning, Merz convened a meeting of the security cabinet, which includes the most important ministers in the government. Germany does not yet have a national security council, but the government wants to introduce one soon.
It quickly became clear that Germany had only been informed by the US about the planned attacks after the bombs had already been dropped. This was a repeat of what happened more than a week ago when the Israelis attacked the Iranian nuclear facilities. At that time, Foreign Minister wasn’t woken up by his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar in Cairo.
It was the middle of the night, again after the attacks had already begun. Wadephul, who had planned to travel to the Middle East to make numerous visits in an effort to promote a peaceful solution, then informed Merz, who in turn spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Wadephul was then forced to cancel his planned visit to Israel.
Flying in the face of diplomacy
A similar sequence of events also unfolded after the US attack on Iran. On Friday, Wadephul met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, together with his colleagues from France and the UK, in an attempt to reach a negotiated solution, but without success. Then, on Saturday night, the US intervened in the war.
On Sunday after the US attack, German ministers appeared on television to explain to citizens where Germany stands on this issue and what the government can do. Defense Minister , for example, attempted late in the evening to provide some context on public broadcaster ARD when he said: “It is never good when a confrontation escalates militarily and continues. That in itself cannot be good news, because it reveals and demonstrates that the world order of peace is currently under pressure. And that is true everywhere.”
But, according to the defense minister, if Iran had indeed progressed so far with its nuclear program that it posed an immediate threat, then “the destruction of the facilities for manufacturing nuclear weapons is certainly not bad news for stability and security in the region and for Israel.”
Foreign Minister Wadephul expressed similar views in several interviews. He stated that Iran had crossed a “red line” and must now be prepared to return to negotiations.
The matter of international law
Also on Monday morning, the head of the Chancellery, Thorsten Frei, invited all the leaders of the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag to discuss the new situation in the Middle East.
When asked whether the US attack was justified under international law, Frei said: “In my view, we do not yet have all the information that would allow us to make a definitive assessment under international law.”
However, the question of international law was also on the minds of other German politicians on Monday. Agnieszka Brugger, defense expert for the , wrote on the X platform: “I find the blind allegiance to that leading CDU/CSU [conservative bloc] members of parliament are now demonstrating to be naive and dangerous. It is also a complete departure from international law. This could very soon be met with harsh reality.”
Representatives of the ruling center-left (SPD) also expressed concerns. SPD member of parliament Isabel Cademartori wrote on X: “A world in which countries that do not possess nuclear weapons can be attacked at any time by those that do, without any legitimacy under international law, simply because they can, is not a safe world. For anyone.”
This article was originally written in German.
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