Merz visit highlights new strategic, and strained, Germany-Israel bond

Germany has notably opposed various EU sanctions proposals. It is one of the few countries that Israel can count on to at least abstain from unilateral resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly.

Friedrich Merz’s first visit to Israel as German chancellor comes as relations between the two countries have been both shaken and strengthened. It has been severely tested by the war in Gaza, but reached new heights with last week’s deployment of the Arrow 3 missile defense system near Berlin.

No European country matters more to Israel than Germany, and few relationships are as fraught with history, expectations and scrutiny. Yet Merz’s trip, the first by the elected leader of a major European country in several months, marks something new: a mutual dependence that goes well beyond symbolism.

Two developments in particular framed this visit. The first was Germany’s embargo earlier this year on weapons for use in Gaza, a surprising development from a country that has long declared Israel’s security its raison d’être.

If Germany, of all countries, suspended military exports to the Jewish state at a time of war against enemies bent on its destruction, what does that say about the foundation of an alliance built on memory and a sense of historical responsibility to Israel?

The second development goes in precisely the opposite direction: the deployment of an Israeli Arrow 3 ballistic missile defense battery on German soil. Eighty years after the Holocaust, the Jewish state now defends Germany.

Arrow 3 reverses the history of Germany-Israel relations

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at their joint press conference on Sunday, Germany has long worked for the defense of Israel, “but Israel, the Jewish state, 80 years after the Holocaust, is now working for the defense of Germany.” Nothing more powerfully reflects the transformation of Israeli-German relations.

These dramatic changes illustrate the extent to which the war in Gaza has pushed relations into uncharted territory. Merz took office in May after months of harsh public criticism of Israel’s military campaign and ultimately moved to restrict offensive arms sales.

For Berlin, which usually takes care not to appear preachy or preachy about Israel, the decision was shocking.

Merz acknowledged in Jerusalem that the war placed Germany in a “dilemma.” He said Israel had the right and obligation to defend itself after October 7, but added that Germany had obligations rooted in its commitment to “human dignity” and the “rule of law.”

But he also emphasized something else: the embargo was a moment, not a precedent. “Circumstances have since changed,” Merz said, and this policy is no longer enforced. His government has since lifted restrictions. Germany’s fundamental commitment to Israel’s existence and security, he insisted, remains immutable: “It applies today, it applies tomorrow and it applies forever.” »

For Jerusalem, this message is important. So too is the fact that, despite criticism of Israeli operations in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, Berlin remains the bulwark preventing the European consensus from sliding towards punitive measures or diplomatic ostracism.

Germany has notably opposed various EU sanctions proposals. It is one of the few countries that Israel can count on to at least abstain from unilateral resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly.

And he has repeatedly pushed back against efforts to delegitimize or isolate Israel, including the recent attempt to ban Israel’s participation in the Eurovision song contest, which Berlin blocked by making clear it would withdraw and refuse to broadcast the contest if Israel was banned.

If the chancellor’s overall message was one of enduring accountability, even amid disagreements over the conduct of the war and long-standing differences over the two-state solution, Netanyahu delivered a message of historic reversal, emphasizing the “intertwined destinies” of the two countries.

Germany’s post-Holocaust commitment to Israel, he said, was to help the Jewish people recover from the greatest crime in their history. “What has happened since then,” Netanyahu added, “is that we have been able to push back our enemies” and develop capabilities that now allow Israel to reciprocate.

Germany’s deployment of the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system was not simply a defense transaction; it was a moment when history was reversed. This indicates that not only is Germany working to defend Israel, but the Jewish state is now helping to defend Germany. This is a historic change that comes at a time of great international turbulence and transformation.

This is a historic change that comes at a time of great international turbulence and transformation.

And Netanyahu pointed to another transformation – not in the global vilification of Jews, which continues today in the form of a demonization of the Jewish state – but in the Jewish response to this situation.

“We may not be able to control the smear,” he said, “but we have changed Jewish history. Those who slander us cannot annihilate us. When they do, as they did on October 7, we push them back. When Iran tries to tighten the noose of death around us using its proxies, we push them back.”

The prime minister’s message was part warning to Israel’s enemies, part comfort to Jews once again facing growing hostility. Israel today faces unprecedented criticism in Europe and the United States, some fierce, others veering too far into open anti-Semitism. Yet Netanyahu’s argument was that Jewish historical vulnerability has been replaced by agency and capacity.

Despite the warmth of the visit, disagreement over the two-state solution persists. Merz reaffirmed Germany’s long-standing position: a Palestinian state remains, in Berlin’s eyes, the best path to a sustainable regional order and must be achieved through negotiations, but with recognition only at the end and not at the beginning of the process.

Netanyahu, for his part, has made it clear that he will not attend. A Palestinian state as currently conceived, he said, would threaten Israel’s existence.

Need proof? Just look at Gaza, which was a de facto Palestinian state, and which launched an attack that it hoped would spark a wider war to destroy Israel. Israelis, regardless of their political profile, he said, have reached the same conclusion.

Yet what struck the room was not the disagreement but the way both leaders presented it as something that did not endanger the relationship.

Angela Merkel-era Germany often bracketed disagreements under the rubric of “friends can say difficult things.” Merz took a similar line, but added a caveat: criticism should never be an excuse for anti-Semitism, “especially not in Germany.”

Merz’s arrival also had broader political significance. Israel, diplomatically isolated for months and faced with an ICC arrest warrant against its Prime Minister, is only now beginning to renew its relations with Europe. Merz’s visit is a first step, as Jerusalem now begins the slow work of reestablishing its position on the continent.

In this quest, Germany is the logical starting point. It is the EU’s most powerful economy, it is a political juggernaut and the only major European state whose support for Israel is rooted not only in its interests but also in its identity.

For Germany too, the visit reflects a recalibration. After the embargo episode, Berlin clearly wanted to reaffirm the sustainability of the relationship. The message from both capitals is that this relationship can weather storms.

Germany’s friendship is an asset for Israel – diplomatically, militarily and economically. And Israel’s friendship, as demonstrated by the deployment of the Arrow 3 system, is increasingly an asset for Germany.

As Russian missile development accelerates, the European Sky Shield initiative expands, and European defense architecture evolves in the post-Ukraine era, Berlin finds itself relying on Israeli technology, Israeli expertise, and, in a sense unimaginable to previous generations, Israeli defense.

The symbolism of the moment is powerful, but the substance is even more so. The Jewish state now helps defend the country that once sought to annihilate the Jewish people.

As Merz told Yad Vashem, the shadow of the Holocaust remains indelible and has shaped the identities of both countries, but the present is no longer defined solely by the memory of that tragic past. The rollout of Arrow 3 shows that it is increasingly shaped by a relationship that has moved from obligation to interdependence.