German politicians have called for a re-think of Angela Merkel’s “unconditional” support for the Israeli government as frustrations with Binyamin Netanyahu burst into the open.
The emergence of doubts about Israel and its right-wing prime minister from its closest European ally reflected Mrs Merkel’s own disquiet, according to Der Spiegel.
The German chancellor signalled her frustration last month after a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to discuss a planned UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements.
Germany is not a member of the security council but Mrs Merkel supported the idea. “I understand why President Abbas continually seeks out the Security Council,” she said.
Officials in Jerusalem dismissed any talk of a rupture and blamed the report on domestic German politics, calling it an attempt to tarnish Mrs Merkel. “Relations between Israel and Germany are, and will continue to be, close and good,” one Israeli official said. Rolf Mützenich, a member of the Social Democrats, told Der Spiegel: “The perception has been growing in the German government that Netanyahu is exploiting our friendship.”
Advertisement
Norbert Rottgen, chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee from Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, accused Mr Netanyahu of jeopardising his country’s future. “Israel’s current policies are not contributing to the country remaining Jewish and democratic,” he said.
More than 70 years after the Holocaust, Israel considers Germany its closest ally in Europe, a source of diplomatic support and military aid. The Israeli navy’s three Dolphin submarines were built in Germany and subsidised by the German government.
Mrs Merkel has been a supporter of that relationship, but there have been hints of a change. The EU adopted a resolution in January that criticised Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Mr Netanyahu asked the German foreign minister to tone down the language but he refused.