[Source: Reuters]

Germany’s foreign minister threatened unspecified measures against Israel on Tuesday and said Berlin would not export weapons used to break humanitarian law, as he and Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered their most severe rebuke yet over Gaza.

Germany, along with the United States, had long remained in support of Israel’s conduct since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, even as Israel became increasingly isolated internationally. Its about-turn comes as the European Union is reviewing its Israel policy and Britain, France and Canada also threatened “concrete actions” over Gaza.

Speaking to broadcaster WDR, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul warned Germany’s historic support for Israel must not be instrumentalised, as massive air strikes and shortages of food and medicines had made the situation in Gaza “unbearable“.

Earlier, Merz criticised air strikes on Gaza as no longer justified by the need to fight Hamas and “no longer comprehensible“, in comments at a press conference in Finland.

While not a complete rupture, the shift in tone is significant in a country whose leadership follows a policy of special responsibility for Israel, known as the Staatsraeson, due to the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust.

It also reflects a broader shift in German public opinion.

“Our committed fight against anti-Semitism and our full support for the right to exist and the security of the state of Israel must not be instrumentalised for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip,” Wadephul said.

“We are now at a point where we have to think very carefully about what further steps to take,” he said, without giving further details.

“Where we see dangers of harm, we will of course intervene and certainly not supply weapons so that there will be further harm,” he said, adding that no new weapons orders were currently under consideration.

The shift in government stance comes after calls among the junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, to halt arms exports to Israel or else risk what the move’s backers say would be German complicity in war crimes.

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