Relations between Germany and Israel remain unique. They will always be marked by memories of the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany systematically murdered 6 million European Jews during World War II. And yet, since 1965, when Israel and West Germany formally established diplomatic ties, relations have evolved remarkably.

'Any country except Germany'

Early Israeli travel documents bore the limitation: "Valid to any country except Germany." With this exception, the fledgling state sought to distance itself from what was seen as the "country of murderers."

The 1952 Luxembourg Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Israel and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany served as crucial steps toward rapprochement between both nations. The reparations agreement outlined a series of German payments and services, as well as a pledge to reimburse lost assets and livelihoods resulting from Nazi persecution.

When in 1964, amid heightened tensions between Israel and its neighboring states — over issues such as control over water sources — news of a clandestine arms deal between Germany and Israel broke, public outcry initially strained ties between the states. But this ultimately also cleared the way for both nations to establish formal diplomatic relations in 1965.

Not everyone in the new Israeli nation welcomed this. The inauguration of Germany's first ambassador to Israel was accompanied by violent counter-demonstrations.

Willy Brandt: First chancellor to visit Israel

Ties between both states were gradually reinforced with shared days of remembrance and reciprocal visits by state representatives. In June 1973, on a five-day state visit, Willy Brandt, chancellor from 1969 to 1974, became the first-ever German chancellor to travel to Israel.

In turn, in 1975, Yitzak Rabin became the first Israeli head of government to travel to the Federal Republic of Germany and visit West Germany. But no state leader or minister from East Germany ever visited Israel. Instead, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) stressed its "firm solidarity with Arab states" in "repelling Israeli aggression" in the Middle East and former British Mandatory Palestine.

Several German chancellors, above all Angela Merkel during her 16 years in office, have reaffirmed Israel's right to exist. Following the Hamas-led attack in Israel in October 2023, first Olaf Scholz and then Friedrich Merz solemnly repeated Germany's commitment to Israel.

However, as Israel continues to build settlements on occupied Palestinian territory — an act considered illegal under international law — German chancellors have also restated their commitment to a two-state solution, including when talking to their Palestinian counterparts. Each new illegal Israeli expansion has been accompanied by calls from Germany to not add further strain to an already tense situation in the region.

Germany's 'reason of state'

Merkel's speech in the Israeli parliament certainly marked one of the high points in relations between Germany and Israel. There, in 2008, she became the first foreign state leader to address the Knesset. She spoke to them in German, the language of those who had perpetrated the Holocaust.

"Every German government and every German chancellor before me has shouldered Germany's special historical responsibility for Israel's security. This historical responsibility is part of my country's reason of state. For me as German chancellor, therefore, Israel's security will never be open to negotiation."

Since then, the concept of Germany's "Staatsräson," or reason of state, which Merkel had actually mentioned several times prior to her historic speech before the Knesset, became a staple component of any keynote speech by leading German politicians on German-Israeli relations. Then came Friedrich Merz.

The head of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) did use the term in his first government statement. But since mid-2025, he's mostly selected other formulations. "Germany's commitment to the existence and security of the state of Israel is a non-negotiable part of our country's normative foundations," he said in September at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

In media interviews he's outlined his distance to the term "Staatsräson."

A difficult relationship with Netanyahu

Since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resumed office in late 2022, Germany's government has been watching the increasing integration of far-right parties and politicians into Israeli politics with concern. From the start, these politicians' stated goals have included a judicial reform — passed by the Knesset in mid-2023 — the reinstitution of the death penalty, and the expansion of illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory earmarked for a future Palestinian state.

Following the attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, German politicians expressed their solidarity with Israel, traveled to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and visited the border regions where Israelis had been killed or kidnapped.

When the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, among others, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Merz indicated that Germany would find "ways and means" to avoid arresting and extraditing Netanyahu should he visit, despite Germany's international obligations.

A number of states and legal experts consider Israel's military campaign a genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Germany does not share this assessment, but the German government has become increasingly critical. As Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip drags on, the number of Palestinian civilian deaths continues to climb, and the increasingly bold right-wing politicians are calling for the government to starve or expel Gaza's population.

In August 2025, Merz took a significant and highly symbolic step by halting any German arms exports that could be used in Gaza. Netanyahu and his ambassador to Germany responded with scathing criticism, saying that this decision would only benefit Hamas. It was not until November that this export ban was lifted.

Merz subsequently made it clear on several occasions that, in his view, such a step and differing assessments of factual issues did not diminish the "unique, precious friendship with Israel … Dissent on the issue is not disloyalty to our friendship."

Anti-Semitism on the rise

In all this, one thing remains true: Germany has long had a problem with anti-Semitism. Just how dangerous this can be was demonstrated in 2019, when a right-wing extremist tried and failed to attack a synagogue in Halle where people were observing Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday. After he failed to gain access, he murdered two people nearby.

The extent to which anti-Semitism can enter public life was illustrated by the documenta in Kassel in 2022, one of the world's most important art exhibitions, when one of the artworks showed some anti-Semitic images.

According to various studies, the number of anti-Semitic incidents has increased since then. Many Jews are afraid. Israel's ambassador to Germany speaks out more frequently and more sharply than any of his predecessors in recent decades, attacking the media and journalists. At least this much can be said: People are talking more openly with each other today than they have in a long time.

This article was translated from German.

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