Merz, Netanyahu and the reason of state

Friedrich Merz, Germany's new chancellor, made his stance clear very soon after his election victory in February. On the evening of the election, Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), phoned Benjamin Netanyahu and promised to find "ways and means" for the Israeli prime minister to visit Germany without being arrested. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in November. Merz has called these warrants into question. 

Germany's new government, made up of conservatives (CDU/CSU) and social democrats (SPD), has expressly committed to "preserving and developing the rules-based international order on the basis of international law, the universal application of human rights and the United Nations Charter," in the new coalition agreement. The pursuit of power by Putin's Russia, however, is named as the greatest threat to this international order. 

Not a single word is devoted to the pursuit of power by an in-part extremist right-wing Israeli government, which is waging a brutal war against the population of Gaza and has declared its intention to establish a permanent military occupation of the strip. 

The new government has pledged its commitment to a "two-state solution, to be negotiated," though it is probably thanks mainly to the SPD that this formulation made it into the coalition agreement at all. Statements on Israel's settlement policies and the annexation of Palestinian territories, on the other hand, are completely absent—it was the CDU/CSU coalition that had them removed from the draft. 

Staatsräson in domestic policy

The new government makes it unmistakably clear in its coalition agreement, that "Israel's right to extist and its security are and will remain part of the German Staatsräson," (reason of state). In recent years, the word Staatsräson has become synonymous with unconditional support for Israel. 

As part of that process, the rights and security of Palestinians have been ignored—they are not mentioned once in the coalition agreement. The new government even wants to make further German support for UNRWA, the UN humanitarian organisation for Palestinian refugees, "dependent on comprehensive reforms". 

For the first time in almost 60 years, both the chancellor and the foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, have been appointed by the CDU. Wadephul's views are completely in line with those of his party leader Friedrich Merz. Back in November, he called it "inconceivable that a democratically elected head of government from Israel would be arrested on German soil."

This attitude is shared by other members of the new cabinet, including Alexander Dobrindt from the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Dobrindt will be the new interior minister. In a speech to the Bundestag in November, he declared: "When it comes to Israel, we are not mediators, but always partisan."

In his new role, Dobrindt is likely to enforce the Staatsräson in domestic policy even more vigorously than before. He has called for antisemitism to be classified as a "particularly serious case of incitement to hatred", and for people "who incite hatred against Israel" to be given a prison sentence of at least six months. 

Dobrindt also demanded that foreigners who commit "antisemitic crimes" be deported and that German citizens who hold another nationality have their passports taken from them. Where Dobrindt thinks legitimate criticism of Israel ends, and incitement and antisemitism begin, remains dangerously unclear. 

Dobrindt's severe tone fits with the tougher stance towards immigrants and refugees that the CDU and CSU are pursuing under Merz—a stance that will shape the new administration. 

Israel and memory politics

The German Staatsräson is also likely to play an even greater role in education policy in the future than it has to date. Following the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, the new Minister for Education and Family Karin Prien (CDU)—Germany's first jewish minister—described the slogan "Free Palestine" as the "battle cry of an internationally active terrorist gang". She has advocated for freezing financial aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

As education minister, Prien will also be involved in "establishing the first Yad Vashem education centre outside Israel" in Germany, as announced in the coalition agreement. German memory politics will thus be intertwined with the Israeli state. Since 2021, the director of Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial centre, has been controversial politician and entrepreneur Dani Dayan, who has close ties to Netanyahu and the settler movement. 

The new German government is building on an already very extensive level of cooperation with Israel. Germany is Israel's most important ally in Europe and, after the USA, the country's second-largest supplier of arms. 

The last German government had already expanded cooperation with Israel, for example in science and research, or through the planned establishment of a German-Israeli youth office to promote exchange programmes for young people. The new government is likely to continue this course. 

Intensifying repression

There is hardly any other country in which the debate about Israel and Palestine is as heavily regulated as it is in Germany. The level of repression of voices that criticise the Israeli government is already very high. For months now, the German police have been taking an extremely strict approach to demonstrations against the war in Gaza, cracking down even on the smallest of occasions.   

Countless events—concerts, plays, exhibitions and entire conferences—were cancelled last year. Artists and intellectuals have been ostracised for criticising Israel too harshly. This trend, which has accelerated since 7 October 2023, is now likely to intensify further. Under Merz, the new government stands for pure Staatsräson. 

This text is an edited translation of the German original.