- German Foreign Minister visits Israel, Palestinian territories.
- Berlin isolated in support of Israel, preventing sanctions.
- The tone changes as German public opinion hardens in Israel.
Germany's Foreign Minister, said Thursday that the recognition of a Palestinian State should reach the end of conversations about a solution of two states, but Berlin would respond to any unilateral action, after citing “threats of annexation” of some Israeli ministers.
Johann Wadephul declared before heading to Israel and the Palestinian territories on a trip that Berlin has announced as a research mission in the midst of a greater alarm for the starvation in Gaza.
His comments marked the strongest warning of Germany to Israel as Western nations intensify efforts to exert pressure. In recent weeks, Great Britain, Canada and France have indicated their preparation to recognize a Palestinian State in the territory occupied by Israel at the United Nations General Assembly this September.
However, critics argue that Germany's response remains too cautious, made up of a lasting sense of historical guilt by the Holocaust and reinforced by pro-Israel feeling in influential media circles, weakening the collective capacity of the West to apply a significant pressure on Israel.
In his statement, Wadephul reiterated Germany's position that a sustainable resolution to Gaza's War can only be achieved through a negotiated solution of two states, a Palestinian state that coexists in peace with Israel.
“In the light of the open annexation threats of parts of the Israeli government, a growing number of countries, including many in Europe, are now prepared to recognize a Palestinian state even without a prior negotiation process. The region and the peace process of the Middle East are, therefore, in a crossroads,” said Wadephul.
“That process must begin now. If unilateral measures will be taken, Germany will also be forced to respond.”
The coalition of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu includes two extreme right -wing parties that require the direct conquest of Gaza and the restoration of Jewish settlements there. Two upper government ministers also expressed their support on Thursday to annexed Bank occupied by Israel.
The number of deaths of almost two years of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza beat 60,000 this week. A growing number of civilians is dying about hunger and malnutrition, say the health authorities of Gaza, with images of hungry children who surprise the world and intensify criticism of Israel for their curbs to help the enclave.
Germany, together with the United States, has remained one of Israel's strongest allies and the largest arms suppliers.
German officials say that their Israel approach is governed by a special responsibility, known as the “statsraison”, which arises from the legacy of the Nazi holocaust. They say they can achieve more through subsequent diplomatic channels than in public statements.
German Pro-Israel media
The largest media group in Germany, Springer Axelwho has his best -selling newspaper Bild In addition to other publications such as Welt and Politic, it includes a specific Pro-Israel commitment in its central corporate principles.
The clause is committed Springer Axel and its employees to a Pro-Israel editorial position.
Bild Published a story on Thursday, for example, denouncing a “hunger campaign” against Israel and moves through western countries to increase pressure on the country, which as the war in Gaza had prolonged to the packaging to Hamas to leave the high fire conversations. The newspaper praised Germany for not doing so.
Other Bild Thursday's story denounced a “campaign designed to morally destroy Israel.”
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has long been Pro-Israel for a long time. In February, he said he would find a way for Netanyahu to visit Germany without being arrested under a court order by the International Criminal Court.
But the tone has changed in Berlin in recent weeks, together with a change in public opinion, with a survey published on June 4 that shows 63% of Germans who say that Israel's military campaign in Gaza has gone too far.
Merz said on Monday that steps how to suspend the European Union Pact that governs relations with Israel were now on the table, to increase pressure on the country on the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza.
The EU executive body recommended Monday that Israeli access to its flagship financing program, but the proposal does not yet have enough support to approve, with heavy Germany in particular still uncertain.
