New arms shipments to Israel have been announced by Chancellor Olaf Solz, rejecting opposition criticism of a reluctance to support Israel after the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.

“We have delivered weapons and we will deliver more”, emphasized Mr. Scholz from the floor of the Bundestag, during a special commemorative event on the occasion of the anniversary of the attack by Hamas against Israel.

The chancellor stressed that the government has taken decisions which ensure that there will soon be further arms shipments to Israel and, addressing Christian Democratic Party (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz, spoke of “false accusations”. Earlier Mr. Mertz had claimed that “for weeks and months the federal government has refused to grant arms export licenses, for example for ammunition, but even for armored personnel carriers”, noting that several companies have addressed him with their letters. “What is this if not a de facto refusal to issue export permits?”, said Friedrich Mertz.

On the part of the government, Foreign Minister Analena Burbok referred to the confidential nature of the relevant decisions, the responsibility for which belongs to the Federal Security Council, while she also referred to the case being examined by the International Court of Justice, following an appeal by Nicaragua, for possible involvement of Germany into genocide, through the sale of arms to Israel. “Germany has made it clear that it is supplying weapons with the aim of supporting Israel. At the same time, international law applies,” Ms. Burbock replied.

Between March and August, the federal government has not approved arms exports to Israel, the Ministry of Economy reports, answering a parliamentary question from the Left, clarifying at the same time that there is no relevant “boycott” on behalf of Berlin.

Opening today’s event in the Bundestag, the chamber’s president, Berbel Bas, reiterated that “defending Israel’s security is part of the historical responsibility that arises for us Germans from the Holocaust” and condemned the increase in anti-Semitic crimes in recent months. “Anti-Semitism has spread without limit in Germany,” Ms Bass said, also referring to hatred on social media and hostility against Jews at German universities. “Many of those affected are now questioning their future in Germany and this is devastating,” said the president of the Bundestag, who emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense, but also spoke of “an unbearable dilemma between this legitimate self-defense and the necessary protection of civilians”.

Analena Burbok also emphasized that “Israel can only live in peace in the long run if its Palestinian neighbors can also live in peace” and called again for the observance of international humanitarian law in the exercise of Israel’s right to self-defense.