Senior ministers from Germany's Green Party have blocked arms deals with Israel, with no licenses for arms or parts exports issued since March, according to a Bild report released on Sunday.
In a heated debate in the German parliament last week, conservative leader Friedrich Merz claimed that Germany has not approved any such exports for weeks or even months. However, Chancellor Olaf Scholz took the podium afterward, asserting that "Germany has supplied and will continue to supply weapons to Israel."
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
(Photo: Olivier Fitoussi)
Sources from various coalition parties indicated that during secret federal security meetings—attended by the chancellor and key ministers—Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, both leaders of the Green Party, blocked the arms exports to Israel.
While Baerbock’s position wasn’t surprising, given her recent reactions to the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and anti-terror operations in Tulkarm, Habeck’s stance caught many off guard. He had, after all, previously expressed strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself and ensure the safety of its citizens. Just in September, Habeck stated, "There is no arms export ban to Israel. Each request is evaluated on a case-by-case basis."
According to Bild, Green Party ministers froze all requests to export weapons and parts for tanks and helicopters to Israel, conditioning the approval on Israel’s assurance that no weapons imported from Germany would be used for "genocide."
Government insiders reportedly called this demand "absurd," arguing that its sole purpose was to block arms exports to Israel. "Accusing Israel of genocide aligns with the rhetoric of its most ardent enemies," said one source close to the meetings. "It’s unclear how Israel could defend itself if an international court, biased against Israel, ever ruled it was committing genocide."
The newspaper reported that Israel provided the necessary assurances in writing to the German government last week, leading Scholz to tell parliament that arms exports to Israel would resume. The actions of the Green Party, particularly Vice Chancellor Habeck, have been nothing short of astonishing. Although the Greens are experiencing a slump in popularity, as seen in recent elections in three East German states, they seem to be catering to their base of left-leaning voters, many of whom favor diplomatic solutions and generally hold anti-Israel views.
In contrast, despite the Greens’ opposition to Israeli arms exports, the German cabinet, with Green Party support, approved the sale of air-to-ground missiles to Saudi Arabia and authorized €336 million worth of arms exports to Turkey—two countries with particularly poor human rights records. Meanwhile, arms exports to Israel have dropped from €326.5 million in 2023 to just €14.5 million by August this year.
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