The New York Times reported Friday Germany is shifting its stance following its staunch support of Israel after October 7 and the Gaza war, and is considering the renewal of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), despite some of its workers taking part in Hamas’s attack.
Germany, like many other countries, had halted funding to UNRWA due to the accusations made against it, only announcing it would renew funding for the agency on activities unrelated to Gaza this week. According to the report, it did so despite its demand UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini be dismissed before funding could resume.
German and EU sources told The New York Times that this condition dropped after time passed and the German government’s position on UNRWA softened. They added that Germany is expected to release aid funds for UNRWA's activities in Gaza as soon as May. France has already announced that it will allocate more than €30 million to UNRWA in 2024.
The report comes against the backdrop of more critical statements being made in Germany, where, due to its Nazi past, its commitment to Israel is deeply rooted in local politics. Germany is Israel's second-largest arms supplier after the U.S., and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among the first leaders to visit the country after the October 7 attack to express his support.
However, on another visit he made this month, amid concerns about the planned operation in Rafah, he said alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "We cannot stand by and watch Palestinians risk starvation." While Scholz noted his strong support for Israel’s goal of eliminating Hamas, he questioned how the heavy human cost - in the form of over 32,000 Palestinians killed in the war so far - could be justified.
As part of its support for Israel on the international stage, Germany also stood before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague and rejected South Africa's accusations of Israel committing “genocide” in Gaza.
Scholz himself refused to respond to questions about Israel's alleged violations of international law at a conference in Munich held in February. This week, however, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced she would send a delegation to Israel, explaining that Germany is a signatory to the Geneva Convention - and is therefore “obliged to remind all parties of their duty to abide by international humanitarian law.”
Baerbock also visited Israel this week, her sixth in the region since the start of the war, and described the situation in Gaza as a "hell." She insisted a large-scale operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are seeking refuge, shouldn’t be carried out. "People cannot vanish into thin air, she said, casting doubt on Israel's ability to evacuate the civilian populace before the start of the operation.
Foreign Minister Israeli Katz responded to the growing German pressure at Israel’s security cabinet meeting held Thursday, saying Baerbock criticized the situation in Gaza and spoke on the German public shifting its tone on the war. According to Katz, she expressed concern she might be prosecuted for war crimes due to her support for Israel
Recent polls in Germany indicate that almost 70% of its residents believe Israel's actions in Gaza can’t be justified. This is in contrast to surveys held a few weeks ago, where the figure stood at 50%. The Israeli issue also arises in meetings Scholz holds with his voters.
"I find Germany’s foreign policy contradictory, and even hypocritical," a woman said on Scholz during a meeting he held with voters in Berlin this week. She wondered how Germany could, on the one hand, call on Israel to refrain from action in Rafah, while on the other hand, continue to provide it with weaponry. "We have to really do something to protect these people.”
According to a report, some German officials in the government are wondering if Germany’s support for Israel is too great.
"What changed for Germany is that it’s untenable, this unconditional support for Israel," Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin, told the Times. “In sticking to this notion of Staatsräson, they gave the false impression that Germany actually offered carte blanche to Netanyahu,” he added.