Germany’s Merz ‘buckled under’ pressure to impose arms embargo on Israel, Netanyahu asserts

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has “buckled under” pressure from foreign and domestic groups opposing Israel, after the chancellor imposed a partial arms embargo in response to Israel’s plans to expand the war in Gaza, and vows that Israel will fight Hamas “with or without the support of others.”

“I think [Merz has] been a good friend of Israel, but I think he’s buckled under the pressure of false TV reports, the internal pressure from various groups,” Netanyahu says during a foreign press conference, in response to a question about the embargo.

“I don’t want to talk about [Merz] specifically, but I want to say this: Maybe some choose to forget October 7. We will not forget what happened, and we will do whatever it takes to defend our country and defend our people, defend our future. We will win the war, with or without the support of others,” Netanyahu continues.

Turning to what he calls “another issue,” Netanyahu says that many leaders, “especially European leaders,” have told him: “Look, we know you’re right, but we can’t stand in the face of the public opinion in our country… They tell me that over and over again.”

“And I say, that is your problem. It is not our problem,” he continues.

He notes that everybody celebrated the Munich peace conference, “capitulation in Munich,” as “peace in our time,” and that “everybody lambasted Churchill, who opposed it.”

“The difference now is maybe they thought then that there was a real chance for peace by succumbing to the Nazis,” he says. “But I don’t believe anybody seriously thinks that now. And we’re facing neo-Nazis.

He adds that Merz’s predecessor, Olaf Scholz, visited Israel shortly after Hamas carried out its October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war in Gaza, and described the terror group as “exactly like the Nazis. And they are.”

“We’re not going to leave the remainder of the Nazi army in the equivalent of Berlin,” he says, equating stopping the war before destroying Hamas with stopping World War II before capturing Berlin and fully ending Nazi rule.

“We’re going to do what we need to do, and I hope that Chancellor Merz changes his policy. And you know when he’ll change his policy for sure? When we win,” the premier says.