Middle East war
Anti-Semitism Commissioner: No arms embargo against Israel
An armored personnel carrier of the Israeli army: Felix Klein “would like to advocate that weapons continue to be supplied to Israel.” photo
© Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
The Federal Government’s anti-Semitism commissioner criticizes the demand that Israel no longer be given weapons. “You have to support the victim,” he says, adding further arguments.
The federal government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, has warned of an arms embargo against Israel warned, which is demanded by the Left Party, the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance and Palestinian activists. “I would like to strongly advocate that weapons continue to be delivered to Israel – regardless of the progress of the operation in the Gaza Strip,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
Referring to the cause of the war, the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas and other Islamist groups with more than 1,200 dead and 230 kidnapped, he added: “You have to support the victim who is fighting back. And that victim is Israel.” Therefore, as in the case of Ukraine, Germany should provide military and other support.
Klein: Germany benefits from Israel
Military cooperation is also a two-way street, Klein added. “We in Germany can also benefit from an Israeli missile defense system and are already doing so from Israeli drones.” Germany has purchased the very high-altitude Arrow 3 missile defense system from Israel, which is scheduled to be delivered in 2025.
Last year, the federal government approved arms exports worth 326.5 million euros to Israel – most of them after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. These included 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns, submachine guns or others fully or semi-automatic firearms.
The United Nations Human Rights Council called on Friday for an end to arms sales to Israel in view of tens of thousands of deaths as a result of the Gaza war. This is necessary “to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations,” it said in a resolution. Germany voted against the text.