Merz visit highlights new strategic, and strained, Germany-Israel bond
Notably, Germany opposed various sanctions proposals in the EU. It is one of the few countries Israel can count on to at least abstain from one-sided UN General Assembly resolutions.
Friedrich Merz’ s first visit to Israel as Germany’s chancellor comes as the relationship between the two countries has been both shaken and strengthened. It was strained by the war in Gaza, yet elevated to new heights with last week’s deployment of the Arrow 3 missile defense system near Berlin.
No European country matters more to Israel than Germany , and few relationships are as laden with history, expectation, and scrutiny. Yet Merz’s trip, the first by the elected head of a major European country in several months, marks something new: A mutual dependency that goes far beyond symbolism.
Two developments in particular have framed this visit. The first was Germany’s embargo earlier this year of weapons destined for use in Gaza, a startling development from a country that has long declared Israel’s security as its raison d’être.
If Germany, of all countries, suspended military exports to the Jewish state at a time of war with enemies committed to its destruction, what does that signal about the bedrock of an alliance built on memory and a sense of historic responsibility toward Israel?
The second development cut in precisely the opposite direction: The deployment of an Israeli Arrow 3 ballistic missile defense battery on German soil. Eighty years after the Holocaust, the Jewish state is now defending Germany.
