Germany–Israel relations (; ) are the diplomatic relationship between the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

and the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, relations gradually thawed as West Germany offered to pay reparations to Israel in 1952 and diplomatic relations were officially established in 1965. Nonetheless, a deep mistrust of the German people remained widespread in Israel and the Jewish diaspora communities worldwide for many years after. Relations between East Germany and Israel never materialised. Today, Israel and Germany maintain a "special relationship" based on shared beliefs and a combination of historical perspectives. A central pillar of this relationship is Germany’s commitment to Israel’s security as part of its ''Staatsräson'' ( reason of state), a policy that has also sparked domestic and international debate regarding its political and legal implications.

Germany is represented in Israel through its

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and honorary consuls in Eilat and Haifa. Israel is represented in Germany through its embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and its Consulate-General in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

and the

Union for the Mediterranean The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; , ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 Member state of the European Union, EU member states (i ...

History

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, founded in 1948, had no relations with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

due to the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and until the reparations agreement with

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1952. The Israeli passport stated "This passport is valid for all countries except Germany", but this statement was removed after the reparations agreement with West Germany.

Reparations agreement

In the early 1950s, the negotiations began between the

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

, the chairman of the Jewish Claims Conference Nahum Goldmann, and the Chancellor of

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

. Because of the sensitivity of accepting reparations, this decision was intensely debated in the Israeli

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

. In 1952, the Reparations Agreement was signed. All in all, as of 2007 Germany had paid 25 billion euros in reparations to the Israeli state and individual Israeli

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

. This commitment, driven by moral and political responsibility, became central to its Staatsräson—

's post-war national interest. Staatsräson involved addressing historical debts, compensating victims, ensuring Israel’s security, and thus restoring Germany’s international credibility. There were significant reconciliation efforts, particularly from religious institutions such as the German Coordinating-Council for Christian-Jewish cooperation and the

Action Reconciliation Service for Peace The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace is a German peace organization founded to confront the legacy of Nazism. The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (German: Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste, or ASF) was founded in 1958 by the syn ...

. In 1950, Hermann Maas became the first German to be officially invited to Israel. It took another fifteen years until West Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations on 12 May 1965. Since then, mutual

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

s regularly occur, although for many years relations were affected by the fact that Jews both in and outside Israel maintained a deep mistrust of Germany and the German people. German President

Roman Herzog Roman Herzog (; 5 April 1934 – 10 January 2017) was a German politician, judge and legal scholar, who served as the president of Germany from 1994 to 1999. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was the first president to be elec ...

's first official visit outside Europe was to Israel in 1994. Israeli Prime Minister

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

was the first foreign leader received in Berlin after the German government's relocation from

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

in 1999.

Eichmann trial

West German Chancellor

attempted to influence the

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

of Nazi war criminal and

architect

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...

in Israel because he feared that the Nazi past of some senior West German officials, including Hans Globke, would come to light during the trial. Hans Globke's key position as chief of staff to Adenauer, responsible for matters of national security, made both the West German government and CIA officials wary of exposing his past, despite their full knowledge of it. This led, for instance, to the withholding of Adolf Eichmann's alias from the Israeli government and

Nazi hunter A Nazi hunter is an individual who tracks down and gathers information on alleged former Nazis, or SS members, and Nazi collaborators who were involved in the Holocaust, typically for use at trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against hum ...

s in the 1950s. The German

Federal Intelligence Service The Federal Intelligence Service (, ; BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin. The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign cou ...

(BND) had known since 1952 that Eichmann was living in Buenos Aires and working at

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Bilateral Cooperation since 2000

German Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

visited Israel in October 2000. In 2005, the year of the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, German President

Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; 22 February 1943 – 1 February 2025) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU ...

and Israel's former President

Moshe Katsav Moshe Katsav (; born Musa Qassab; 5 December 1945) is an Israeli former politician and was the president of Israel from 2000 to 2007. He was also a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset and a minister in its Cabinet of Israel, cabinet. He ...

exchanged state visits. The two countries established a network of contacts between parliamentary, governmental, and

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s, as well as strategic and security ties. On 30 January 2008, Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

's spokesman announced that the German and Israeli cabinets would meet in Israel in March 2008, in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. This was the first time the German cabinet met with another cabinet outside of Europe. The joint meeting was expected to become an annual occurrence. On 17 March 2008, Merkel paid a three-day visit to Israel to mark Israel's 60th anniversary. Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; , ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009. The son of a former Herut politician, Olmert was first elected to the Knesset for Likud in 1973, at th ...

signed agreements on a range of projects in education, the environment and defense. Merkel spoke of her support for the Jewish state during an unprecedented speech to the

on 18 March 2008. In January 2011, Merkel visited Israel and met with Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

and opposition

Kadima Kadima () was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon ...

leader

Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...

. In February 2011, Netanyahu called Merkel to discuss Germany's vote in the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

in favor of the Palestinian proposal. Merkel reportedly told Netanyahu that he had disappointed her and done nothing to advance peace. To clear the air, Netanyahu was invited for a reconciliation visit to Berlin in mid-March 2011. In September 2011, Merkel criticized Israel for construction in settlements in Jerusalem and said that the new housing permits raised doubts over Israel's readiness to negotiate with the Palestinians. Germany was one of 14 countries that voted against Palestine's

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

membership in October 2011, within the context of the

Palestine 194 Palestine 194 is an ongoing diplomatic campaign by the Palestinian National Authority to gain membership in the United Nations for the State of Palestine. The name of the campaign is a reference to Palestine becoming the 194th member of the UN. ...

initiative. When Israel announced that building settlements would continue in response to Palestinian attempts to declare statehood unilaterally, Germany threatened to stop deliveries to Israel of submarines capable of firing nuclear warheads.

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

, the German national railway, in May 2011 pulled out of the high-speed railway to Jerusalem project because the line will pass in part through the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. According to press reports, the German transport minister Peter Ramsauer told Deutsche Bahn's CEO that the projected rail line was "problematic from a political perspective" and violated international law. As a result, the company, which is owned by the German government, withdrew from the project. The company's decision was seen as a victory for left-wing Israeli and Palestinian activists who had waged a campaign within the context of the international

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's ...

movement. In May 2019, the Bundestag passed a resolution condemning BDS as antisemitism. In March 2022, the newly elected

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...

, made his first official visit to Israel.

Reason of State

Criticism and Debate

Germany’s commitment to Israel as part of its ''Staatsräson'' has sparked growing criticism. Scholars and civil society actors argue it is used to justify support for Israeli policies and restrict dissent within Germany.

Instrumentalisation of Remembrance Culture

German-Israeli publicist Meron Mendel has criticised the invocation of ''Staatsräson'' in relation to Israel’s current leadership, calling it particularly problematic in light of the government’s “ultranationalist and religious-fundamentalist” orientation. The Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) described this usage as promoting a “manufactured unquestionability” around Israeli policies, undermining democratic discourse. Political theorist Maximilian Grimm argues that the state-centric framing of historical responsibility towards the state of Israel reinforces authoritarian tendencies and sidelines diverse Jewish perspectives, while distracting from contemporary forms of antisemitism. Similarly, scholars like Enzo Traverso and Daniel Marwecki warn of

memory being used to justify controversial Israeli policies, describing this as "substitute nationalism" that distorts Germany’s self-image and overlooks Israeli violations of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. In this context, ''Staatsräson'' is increasingly seen as performative. As Bue Rübner argues in ''The German Chauvinism'', some Germans seek to resolve inherited guilt through ritualised expressions of moral righteousness centred on support for Israel, increasingly equated with anti-antisemitism. This, he suggests, has fostered a culture of performative anti-fascism, where virtue is signalled through language policing and alignment with state narratives, rather than meaningful engagement with justice, pluralism, or anti-racism. He contends this climate enables punitive measures, such as disinvitations, defunding, and denunciations of people and organisations critical of the Israeli government. This has adversely affected Jews in Germany, many of whom have been "cancelled" for alleged antisemitic statements. Observers point to a pattern of elevating voices aligned with German and European ideas of nationhood, while marginalising more universalist, cosmopolitan, or emancipatory Jewish identities.

Censorship

See also: Censorship in Germany The German government's commitment to Israel as part of its ''Staatsräson'' has increasingly influenced domestic policy, including restrictions on pro-Palestinian expression. These measures have raised concerns about civil liberties, academic freedom, and the narrowing of democratic space within Germany, especially as they relate to German-Israeli relations. A key precedent was set in 2019, when the Bundestag passed a non-binding resolution declaring the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement antisemitic. Though not legally binding, the resolution has been used to justify defunding, event cancellations, and speaker disinvitations at public institutions. These concerns intensified in 2024 when the Bundestag further institutionalised the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, criticised for equating criticism of Israeli policy with antisemitism. Under this framework, various educational and cultural programs—including the Jewish-Israeli art collective ''The School for Unlearning Zionism''—were defunded after BDS associations were flagged. Critics argue this has constrained legitimate discourse around German-Israeli relations and Israeli policy. Numerous artists, academics, and public figures have reported being disinvited from events over their criticism of Israeli actions. These include Jewish journalist Masha Gessen, Jewish-Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm, and author Adania Shibli. A lecture by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese was cancelled by

Ludwig Maximilian University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke Ludwig IX of Bav ...

, citing anticipated controversy. Following campaigns against Middle East scholar Muriel Asseburg, similar cancellations occurred. In 2024,

Nancy Fraser Nancy Fraser (; born May 20, 1947) is an American philosopher, critical theorist, feminist, and the Henry A. and Louise Loeb Professor of Political and Social Science and professor of philosophy at The New School in New York City.Jadžić, Milo ...

lost a professorship after criticising Israeli military conduct in Gaza. Jewish and Palestinian students, artists, and scholars describe a climate of fear and self-censorship. New legislation in Berlin proposed expelling students for political expression, further raising concerns about academic freedom in relation to Germany’s support for Israel. Civil society organizations and Jewish intellectuals have issued open letters condemning what they describe as disproportionate and politically motivated responses that threaten basic civil rights.

Trade

Germany is Israel's largest trading partner in Europe and Israel's second most important trading partner after the United States. Israeli imports from Germany amount to some

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

2.3 billion annually, while Israel is Germany's fourth largest trading partner in the

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

region.

Tourism

Both Germany and Israel offer one another Visa Free or Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) for their citizens to visit each other and for both the arrivals are considered as predominantly main group of tourist. Israel and Germany also offer each others citizens Working Holiday Visas.

Culture, science, and social programs

The two countries enjoy extensive scientific relations, with cooperation in science between Israeli and German universities and the development of the Minerva Society. During the visit by President Katsav,

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

President Wolfgang Thierse promoted the establishment of German–Israeli Youth Office – modeled on Germany's joint youth offices with France and Poland – as a tool to educate German and Israeli youth about their respective histories and the sensitivities of their relationship. The German-Israel Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF) was established in 1986. A number of exchange programs work between young Germans and Israelis. About 2,000 Israelis and 4,500 Germans currently participate each year in the exchange program run by Germany's Federal Ministry for the Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The German organization Action Reconciliation (Aktion Sühnezeichen) has played a role in bringing Germans and Israelis together. Since 1961, Action Reconciliation has sent about 2,500 volunteers to work in Israeli hospitals and social welfare programs. Churches and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s have been active in fostering relations. Israel places great importance on

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

relationships with German cities. Haifa has five sister cities in Germany; Tel Aviv has five and

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

has two. Over 100 Israeli cities and local authorities have ties with Germany.

Military cooperation

Germany and Israel have significant and long-standing military cooperation. From 1959 to 1967 the

was a significant supplier of military equipment and arms to Israel. However, after 1965, when West Germany backed out of an agreement to sell tanks to Israel, the United States filled the order by selling 210

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun M48, armored, full-tracked, combat vehicle of the medium-gun tank class. It was designed as a replacement for ...

tanks. The Merkava 4 uses a German MTU MB 873 Ka-501 air-cooled diesel

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more c ...

produced under license. Germany has supplied Israel with

Dolphin class submarine The ''Dolphin'' class () is a diesel-electric submarine developed in Israel and constructed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel, Germany, for the Israeli Navy's Shayetet 7 flotilla. The first boats of the class were based on the expo ...

s while Germany utilizes the Israeli-designed Spike Anti-Tank Missile. In 2008, it was revealed that Germany and Israel had been jointly developing a nuclear warning system, dubbed Operation Bluebird, in secret. The German-Israeli military cooperation was shrouded in secrecy for a long period, as such an entente was not seen favorably within Israel. However, this tight relationship, translated through arms deal and intelligence sharing, developed into solid trust and ultimately laid the necessary groundwork for the establishment of diplomatic ties. For the first time in history, German combat aircraft landed at Ovda Airport in Israel to take part in the Blue Flag exercise in 2017. Israel supplied Arrow 3 missiles to Germany during the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

in 2023. In October 2023, following the outbreak of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius expressed full support for Israel. He told Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant that "whatever we can do to support you, with material support, we will do this." In 2023, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros, or about $353.7 million. In 2025, German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz told WDR television that he no longer "understands" Israel's purpose in Gaza and that its actions can "no longer be justified by a fight against Hamas."

Israel–Palestine conflict

German Chancellor

condemned

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

' actions during the

and expressed his support to Israel and its right to self-defense. He criticized the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

and Palestinian President

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

, saying that "their silence is shameful." On 17 October 2023, Scholz arrived in Israel and on the same day warned

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

not to get involved in the war between Israel and

. He said that "Germany and Israel are united by the fact that they are democratic constitutional states. Our actions are based on law and order, even in extreme situations." According to a poll by the German Forsa Institute on behalf of the newspaper ''

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

'' conducted in December 2023, 45% of respondents in

agreed and 43% disagreed with the statement: "Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip is all in all appropriate." In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel, 44% of Germans said Germany has "a special obligation towards Israel." In December 2023, that number dropped to 37%. In January 2024, President

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 – 4 February 2024) was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister A prime minister ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

called Israel's actions in Gaza "genocidal and gruesome" and sharply criticized Germany's decision to back Israel in '' South Africa v. Israel'', saying that Germany had an "inability to draw lessons from its horrific history". In February 2024 lawyers representing Palestinians in Germany filed a criminal complaint against various senior politicians including Chancellor

, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, economic minister

Robert Habeck Robert Habeck (; born 2 September 1969) is a German politician (Alliance 90/The Greens) and writer who served as Vice Chancellor of Germany, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and ...

, and finance minister Christian Lindner for "aiding and abetting" the genocide in Gaza. On 1 March 2024, Nicaragua initiated proceedings against Germany at the

ICJ The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

under the

Genocide Convention The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), or the Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition. It was ...

, concerning Germany's support for Israel in the Gaza war. At the start of the

in October 2023, Germany sold Israel weapons worth 326 million euros, which was not repeated in 2024 according to Israel's Shomrim Research Network. The German spokesman of the Ministry of Economy said that the government makes decisions on arms exports on a case-by-case basis, taking into account humanitarian law and the current situation between Israel and Hamas, the spokesman said. Between August and October 2024, Germany sold weapons worth 94 million euros to Israel. In October 2024, CDU leader

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (; ; born 11November 1955) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022, leading the CDU/CSU ...

successfully urged the German government to resume weapons deliveries to Israel, including spare parts for tanks. In 2024,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

accused the German government of "taking a one-sided stance in favor of Israel throughout the entire conflict" in the Middle East, claiming that while the German government criticizes

' war crimes, the government does not name Israel's actions that violate international law as such. Francesca Albanese, incumbent UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, criticised foreign minister Annalena Baerbock following a speech by the Foreign Minister in the German Bundestag on 7 October 2024, in which Baerbock alluded to Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilian sites as "self-defense" and said that "that's what Germany stands for" to much applause. CDU leader

criticized the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister

for alleged

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

during the

. In February 2025, one day after the

2025 German federal election The 2025 German federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the List of members of the 21st Bundestag, 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took plac ...

, he announced his intention to invite Netanyahu to Germany, "as an open challenge" to the decision of the ICC.

References

External links

Germany's Relations with Israel: Background and Implications for German Middle East Policy

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

* - on Israel's image in Germany
50 years Germany-Israel relations
Frankfurter Societäts-Medien GmbH in cooperation with the German foreign ministry and the Israeli embassy in Berlin
Germany, the Jews and Israel: an exhibition presenting 75 years of German history
at the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...

's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Germany-Israel relations

Bilateral relations of Israel