Netanyahu tells Merz Germany ‘rewarding Hamas’ by placing arms embargo on Israel

8 August 2025, 7:21 pm

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, meets Germany's then-opposition leader, now Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, February 12, 2024. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a phone call that he is disappointed with his decision to place an effective arms embargo on Israel, after he announced Berlin would no longer export weapons that could be used in the war in Gaza, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Instead of supporting Israel’s just war against Hamas, which carried out the most horrific attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Germany is rewarding Hamas terrorism by embargoing arms to Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.

It adds “that Israel’s goal is not to take over Gaza, but to free Gaza from Hamas and enable a peaceful government to be established there.”