Never before had Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed himself so clearly on the situation in the war in Gaza. "What the Israeli army is now doing in the Gaza Strip, I frankly no longer understand with what goal," Merz said at the Re:publica digital conference in Berlin on Monday.

Merz added that in his view, a line had been crossed and international humanitarian law had been breached. To cause such suffering to the civilian population "can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism," he said.

Germany's "reason of state"

Since the attack on Israel by Islamist terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, most statements by German government representatives began with the claim that Israel had the right to defend itself, and that Hamas was contesting Israel's right to exist. These were statements made by then Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and his Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (The Greens).

Initial comments from the new Chancellor Merz and his Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (both of the Christian Democrats, or CDU) had echoed this line of argument. It was always emphasized that the German "reason of state," the consequence of Germany's responsibility for the murder of millions of European Jews by the National Socialists (1933-1945), demanded unrestricted German support for the protection of Israel's right to exist.

Following Merz's critical words on Israel's course in the Gaza war, Israel's ambassador in Berlin, Ron Prosor said on the German TV show Morgenmagazin: "When Friedrich Merz voices this criticism of Israel, we listen very carefully because he is a friend."

Merz also raised the issue of Israel during a visit to Finland. There he said that he was calling on the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid and to enable food security for the population in the Gaza Strip. Whether German policy towards Israel needed to change now would be discussed within the government, the Federal Chancellor said.

Macron "Egregious actions"

Most recently, Germany was increasingly on its own with its toned-down words of criticism.

A week ago, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of Israel's "shameful" acts on the French TF1 channel. He accused Netanyahu of "unacceptable" behavior in holding up aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.

France, the UK and Canada also announced that they were prepared to impose sanctions against Israel beyond the EU framework if necessary.

In fact, Israel had been blocking aid deliveries for the approximately 2.2 million people in the narrow coastal strip on the Mediterranean since March. These blockades were only eased just over a week ago, however, at around the same time, the army launched a new and intensified military offensive which killed scores of Palestinians.

Moreover, some far-right Israeli government representatives called for the Palestinians to be expelled from the Gaza Strip for good.

End of arms exports to Israel?

Such announcements, as well as reports of Gaza's dramatic famine and poor medical care, are triggering further political reactions in Germany.

"Arms exports to Israel must be suspended as Germany must not be complicit in war crimes committed by the Israeli government," Isabel Cademartori a member of parliament of the governing Social Democrats wrote on X on Monday. She warned that Germany itself could otherwise be prosecuted in international courts.

This is indeed a fear that has long been voiced by politicians in Berlin, but so far only with the microphones switched off.

According to expert estimates, German companies supplied weapons worth €161 million ($182m) to Israel last year.

"Not a German reason of state"

Felix Klein, the German government's anti-Semitism commissioner, was the most outspoken in his criticism of the Netanyahu government. He told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that "starving Palestinians and deliberately making the humanitarian situation dramatically worse has nothing to do with safeguarding Israel's right to exist. And it cannot be German reason of state either."

Last week, there were also heated debates among EU foreign ministers in Brussels whether the EU should amend or even terminate its association agreement with Israel. Germany is strictly opposed to any changes.

"We should not cut our ties with Israel, we should use our ties to influence the Israeli government," Hildegard Bentele, a member of the European Parliament for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), told DW. "So we should not end our cooperation, but rather work together even more closely. Now, above all, to bring humanitarian aid back to the Gaza Strip," she said.

Heated debates

On Monday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was confronted with a possible arms embargo against Israel during a visit to Spain.

This was apparently going too far for Wadephul. After meeting his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares, he said that "nobody is saying that the current situation is acceptable and can be tolerated any longer. Not even Germany."

Wadephul received support from the oppositional Green Party. Their chairman Felix Banaszak also opposes a complete stop of arms deliveries to Israel. "This country has been under existential threat since it was founded. It is surrounded by states that don't mean well with this country. Israel must not be defenseless in the face of such a threat. And that includes having to defend itself," he told the RTL television channel on Monday. He also cited attacks from Iran as a further example.

Tougher tone towards Israel

As of now, this stance seems to remain the German government's medium-term position, despite the new sharp tone towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Before being elected as the new Federal Chancellor, Merz had invited Netanyahu to Germany, knowing full well that the International Criminal Court in The Hague had issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in the fall of 2024. Germany would have had to implement this if Israel's prime minister actually came. However, Merz did not repeat the invitation to Germany after his election as Federal Chancellor.

This article was originally published in German.