Germany’s new chancellor holds first phone call with Netanyahu
Friedrich Merz tells PM that existence of Jewish state is part of post-Nazi Germany’s raison d’etat; readout says he also raised ‘humanitarian crisis’ in Gaza, ‘situation in Syria’
Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz held his first call in office with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussing the Gaza war and Middle East tensions, Berlin said Friday.
In the call on Thursday, 80 years after the end of World War II, Merz “reiterated that the existence and security of Israel are a part of German raison d’être,” declaring them a core principle of the German state, said a statement.
Germany has long been a strong supporter of Israel as it seeks to atone for the Holocaust, and the conservative Merz is expected to continue this tradition.
Merz repeated Germany’s condemnation “in the strongest terms” of Hamas’s “brutal terror attack” of October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
He expressed concern for the fate of the remaining 59 hostages in Gaza as well as “the hope that negotiations for a ceasefire would soon get underway.” He also mentioned the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.
Israel blocked the entry of humanitarian aid to the Strip on March 2, hours after the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal’s first phase expired amid Netanyahu’s refusal to negotiate the second. Israel, which accuses Hamas of hoarding humanitarian aid, is planning to renew the flow of aid as part of a new major offensive in the Strip.
In a trip to Paris on Wednesday, Merz said that while “Israel has a legitimate interest in pushing back Hamas’s terror, it also has a humanitarian obligation to the population in Gaza.”
He added that Israel “must fulfil this responsibility more fully than it has been doing in recent days.”
New German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is expected to visit Israel this weekend to discuss the ongoing conflict.
Next Monday, President Isaac Herzog is set to visit Berlin to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. His German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier will visit Israel directly afterwards.
The official readout of the call between Merz and Netanyahu said they also discussed “the situation in Syria,” without giving further details.
The IDF has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria since Islamist-led rebels ousted the country’s Iran-backed President Bashar al-Assad in December.
Israel, home to about 150,000 Druze, has justified recent strikes as warnings to Damascus’s new leaders to protect the Syrian Druze minority amid sectarian violence.
Israel has also moved troops into the Syrian side of the two countries’ buffer zone, citing a fear they would fall into the wrong hands.
The Times of Israel Community.