This article, authored by Christoph Hasselbach and Peter Hille was published by German broadcaster, Deutche Welle, on 14 June. commonspace.eu is republishing in full and without any edits.
Trapped between what it sees as a historical responsibility to Israel and international law and diplomacy, Germany is facing a tough foreign policy test after the latest Israeli attacks on Iran.
Germany's foreign policy in the Middle East has always involved a delicate balancing act — a balancing act that just got a little more difficult. Israel's attack on Iran this week is likely to put further pressure on Germany's close relationship with Israel.
Israel's security is part of Germany's so-called "Staatrason" or "reason of state." Former Chancellor Angela Merkel popularized the term when she addressed the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in 2008. Although the idea has no official legal standing, Merkel's successor, Olaf Scholz, doubled down on it in the months after the militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
More recently though, the severe humanitarian consequences of Israel's ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip have made it difficult for the German government to find a suitable position on the conflict there. Only a few days ago, Germany's new Chancellor Fredrich Merz said, "frankly speaking, I no longer understand what the goal of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip is," during a television interview.
"Harming the civilian population to such an extent, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism," he told German public broadcaster WDR. Despite those statements though, there have been no consequences. For example, Germany continues to send weapons to Israel.
Germany's support to Israel
The Israel government is defending its latest strikes against Iran by saying it was acting against "an existential threat." Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz called it a "pre-emptive strike" because Iran was close to developing a nuclear bomb, something Israel wanted to prevent happening.
The German government appears to share that opinion. In a press statement issued the morning of the first Israeli strikes, Merz said Israel had "the right to defend its existence and its citizens." Merz had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone and Netanyahu had informed him of the military action and its objectives .
The press statement also said that the German government has repeatedly expressed concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. Iran's "nuclear program violates the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and poses a serious threat to the entire region, especially to the State of Israel," the German government statement said.
The goal of any diplomatic intervention and de-escalation, which Germany supports, must be that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, the statement concluded.
That reaction from the German government was to be expected, Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Netherlands-based Counter Extremism Project, told DW.
"Now it is the direct negotiations between the US and the Iranians that are crucial," Schindler said. "The previous negotiating format — Germany, France, the UK and the US, with the Iranians — is not a part of this any longer. In this conflict the Europeans are increasingly spectators, rather than actors.
Growing criticism of Israel
Schindler does not believe that the current military escalation will change anything around Germany's position on Israel. "We're not just any other country. We're Germany, with the history of the Holocaust," he explained. "In that sense there's absolutely no other moral or ethical option than expressing solidarity with Israel."
That does not mean that Germany has to approve of each Israeli military operation and every Israeli government decision, Schindler continued. "The new German government seems much more prepared to criticize than the previous one," he noted.
Voices critical of the Netanyahu government had recently been growing louder in the German government, including in the governing coalition made up of conservatives from the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, and the Christian Social Union, as well as the left-centrist Social Democrats, or SPD.
Some members of the government seem to fear being pressured by Israel. At the end of last month, Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany would not allow what he called "compulsory solidarity."
During his visit to Cairo, Wadephul commented on the Iranian strikes that came in retaliation for the earlier Israeli ones. "We condemn the indiscriminate Iranian attack on Israeli territory in the strongest possible terms," Wadephul, a member of the CDU, said. "Iran is currently attacking Israel with hundreds of drones. There are initial reports of casualties. These developments are more than worrying." Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had apparently informed him of the attack.
After the Israeli attacks on Iran, SPD foreign policy specialist Rolf Mützenich told German public radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that Israel had the right to defend itself. However, that right should be connected to imminent danger and an existential threat. Whether those prerequisites had been present for Israel to base its attack on, would certainly be discussed at the United Nations Security Council, or UNSC.
At the same time, Mützenich also confirmed the dangers posed by the Iranian nuclear program, adding that Teheran had also acted irresponsibly and was also part of the current escalation spiral.
International law?
Whether Israel's attack on Iran was legitimate under international law is also being discussed. Law experts say a preemptive strike is actually only permissible under certain, very specific conditions — for example, when there is an imminent threat that cannot be prevented any other way.
Foreign policy spokesperson and co-chair of Germany's Left party, Jan van Aken, described the Israeli attack as "a serious violation of international law, which cannot be justified as self-defense."
The UNSC should meet today in order to decide on the nature of this attack, van Aken said. "All sides must immediately deescalate, also to protect the affected civilian population in Iran and Israel," he added.
Some German politicians also see danger developing inside their own country due to the Israeli attack on Iran. The country's Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt said that, after talking to his counterparts in states around Germany, Israeli and Jewish institutions in Germany would get extra protection, so they are prepared in case a potential domestic threat develops.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry also said it would close all consulates and embassies world wide.
Source: This article, authored by Christoph Hasselbach and Peter Hille was published by German broadcaster, Deutche Welle, on 14 June. commonspace.eu is republishing in full and without any edits.
photo: German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz and Israel prime minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, at their meeting in Israel in 2024 (archive picture).
