Chancellor Scholz is traveling to Israel again – after a short stop in Jordan. While the trip in October was all about Israeli victims and hostages, it is increasingly about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The two opinions could hardly be more different, and the Chancellor is also aware of that. At the beginning of the week, Olaf Scholz received Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Berlin. The prime minister of the predominantly Muslim country criticizes the atrocities committed against Palestinians. Scholz, for his part, emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense after the Hamas terror.
At least there is agreement on one point, said the Chancellor: “More humanitarian aid must reach Gaza.” This is also a clear request to Israel. Scholz emphasizes the word “must” very clearly. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is also not concerned with suggestions or wishes, but rather with a “must”. We finally have to move forward, she says. The Israeli government urgently needs to do more to provide more humanitarian aid.
Increasing pressure from Berlin
The Foreign Office spokesman made a concrete proposal on Friday: Israel should open its port of Ashdod for deliveries to the Gaza Strip. It lies between Tel Aviv and the Gaza Strip. The planned makeshift pier in Gaza does not replace a real port.
Israel’s harsh military action in the Gaza Strip is alienating the attacked country even from its close ally the USA. President Joe Biden recently sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Quote: “He harms Israel more than he helps Israel.”
The federal government is a long way from such a condemnation. But the push for more help is increasing. There are also warnings against launching a ground offensive in Rafah in the south. According to his office, Netanyahu has now approved exactly such plans.
“We don’t think it’s right to launch an offensive on Rafah”
Israel has every right to defend itself against Hamas’ terror, says Scholz, and is again demanding the release of the hostages this week. But he also adds: “We don’t think a ground offensive on Rafah is right.”
Baerbock recently put it more drastically, calling an offensive on Rafah a “humanitarian catastrophe with an announcement.” She refers to around one and a half million people who are stuck there in a very small space. Many of them followed Israeli calls to evacuate and fled the fighting areas in northern Gaza. “Often with nothing more than their small children in their arms and their last clothes on their backs.” Then Baerbock adds: “These people can’t just disappear into thin air.”
Airlift is “second best solution” at best
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius gave the green light this week for the air force’s involvement in Gaza aid. Two C-130 “Hercules” transport machines can each transport up to 18 tons. They are supposed to bring food and medicine from Jordan to the Gaza Strip and drop it there from the air.
Aid organizations and the United Nations emphasize: air drops are expensive, time-consuming and risky. They could not replace help by land. The federal government is also clear about this. Chancellor spokesman Steffen Hebestreit calls the air and sea bridges the “second-best solution at best.”
The double message
On his short trip to the Middle East, Chancellor Scholz will first meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog follow in Israel. His message is likely to be one of both-and, as Foreign Minister Baerbock once put it. “There is no either/or here. Only a both/and.” She explains what this means for her: “The safety of the people of Israel from Hamas’ terror is just as important as the survival of the Palestinians.” Both belong together.
Ideally, in the peaceful coexistence of a two-state solution, as the federal government never tires of emphasizing. Even if it seems further away than ever.