BERLIN: Germany will supply more weapons to Israel soon, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday, after a significant drop in deliveries this year prompted opposition accusations that Berlin deliberately delayed the exports.

“We have not decided not to supply weapons. We have supplied weapons and we will supply weapons,” Scholz told parliament at an event to commemorate the victims of the Oct 7 Hamas raid, countering an accusation from opposition leader Friedrich Merz.

The government had made decisions “that also ensure that there will be further deliveries soon,” the chancellor said.

Merz, leader of Germany’s conservative opposition, accused the government of delaying arms exports to Israel, including ammunition and tank spare parts. “For weeks and months, the federal government has refused to grant export permits for ammunition and even spare parts for tanks,” Merz said at the parliamentary session.

“We are aware of several specific cases where the government has withheld approval for equipment and material that Israel urgently needs to defend itself,” Merz added.

Meanwhile Scholz rejected claims that Berlin had imposed a de facto stop on arms exports to Israel and said more defence goods would be sent soon. The pledge put him at odds with France, where President Emmanuel Macron last week suggested an embargo on weapons for use in Gaza, sparking a sharp rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Germany’s approvals for arms exports to Israel dropped sharply this year, with only 14.5 million euros’ worth granted from January to Aug 21, according to data provided by the Economy Ministry in response to a parliamentary question.

In 2023, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022, data from the ministry, which approves export licences, showed.

Commenting on the fall in exports, the German government has said there is no arms export boycott on Israel, and export permits are issued case-by-case after careful review, taking into account international law, foreign policy and security considerations.

Scholz told the German parliament that “we have not decided to stop delivering weapons. We have delivered weapons and we will deliver weapons.” The government had taken steps “that ensure that there will be further deliveries soon,” Scholz added, without specifying what equipment would be sent.

German far-left opposition politician Sahra Wagenknecht sharply criticised German weapons deliveries to Israel, saying they are “aiding and abetting war crimes”.

“Israel has the right to protect itself and its citizens,” she told the Rheinische Post daily. “But Israel does not have the law on its side when it razes Gaza to the ground and buries its inhabitants under rubble and ash with unbridled ruthlessness.” She added that “this brutality is being repeated in Lebanon. Israel’s government, which is partly made up of right-wing radicals, is threatening to plunge an entire region into the abyss. There must be no weapons from Germany for this.”

Germany has long sought to atone for the Holocaust by pledging steadfast support for Israel but the relationship has come under strain since the Oct 7 attack sparked the devastating Gaza conflict.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2024