German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke out Sunday against the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a Friday strike on the Dahieh district of Beirut.
"This action leads to significant instability in the region and does not contribute to Israel’s security – in fact, the opposite," she argued. Baerbock also warned of an escalating security situation and called on Israel to accept a U.S.-backed 21-day cease-fire proposal supported by France, Germany and several Arab nations to pursue a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
However, the German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said it was an act of self defense. "Hezbollah is of course a terrorist organization and it was obviously a meeting of the top leadership of Hezbollah, from which one can assume, even from a distance, that they were planning their further operations," the spokesperson said.
"So in this respect, there are also reasons to believe that the right to self defense was exercised here," he added.
Public reaction in Germany was notably different. Many saw the Israeli operation as a positive step for the Middle East and a rightful exercise of Israel’s self-defense. "Since when is Hezbollah a pillar of stability in the Middle East?" quipped Marie-Louise Beck, a former Green Party MP, in response to Baerbock's remarks.
Other politicians criticized Baerbock for her silence during Hezbollah’s 11-months of rocket attacks on northern Israel. "Eliminating the leader of your greatest enemy – an enemy that launches daily rockets at Israel – surely helps Israel’s security," said Frank Müller-Rosentritt, a foreign policy expert from the FDP, one of the coalition parties.
A commentary piece went further, questioning Baerbock's public stance: "How can we take our foreign minister seriously when she expresses such views and shows no relief over the death of a notorious terrorist? The region has been unstable for years, and this man contributed to that instability, with blood on his hands from both Israel and the Syrian Civil War. Her comments are an invitation for terror to reestablish itself. But this isn’t surprising – back in April, after an Iranian attack on Israel, Baerbock tweeted, ‘Everyone in the Middle East wants to live in peace.’ That was her response."
Annalena Baerbock in Tel Aviv, earlier that month
(Lior Sharon)
