In the past eight weeks, the German government has approved the export of military equipment and ammunition to Israel worth about €31 million ($33.7 million), more than twice as much as during the entire rest of the year.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to supply Israel with even more weapons and other armaments for the country’s ongoing military offensives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
“There are deliveries and there will always be more deliveries. Israel can rely on that,” Scholz said in a speech to the German parliament.
Export permits for German-made weapons worth 45.74 million euros, destined for Israel, had been issued on October 13, according to a German Economics Ministry report provided to a parliamentary committee and obtained by dpa.
As of August 21, the total value was 14.46 million euros, according to a ministry response to a parliamentary question from lawmakers.
The ministry said the figures are preliminary and may be subject to revision or correction.
It was not immediately clear what types of weapons and military equipment were included in the shipments to Israel, and the ministry declined to provide further details, citing the confidentiality of export licensing decisions made by the Federal Security Council.
The report lists categories of goods including ammunition, bombs and warships. However, it is not clear whether the licenses relate to arms deliveries or to the supply of other items, such as spare parts.
‘Israel can count on our solidarity’
In his remarks to parliament, Scholz emphasized that Germany must keep Israel “in a position to defend its country.”
“Israel can count on our solidarity – now and in the future,” he added.
Scholz noted that the Palestinian militant group Hamas had led brutal and bloody attacks on Israel just over a year ago.
At the same time, Scholz said that humanitarian aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip was still needed and that the rules of international law had to be respected in the conflicts in the Middle East.
He acknowledged that civilians have also been killed in the conflict, and said humanity demands that people empathize with all victims.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military offensive, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
Scholz argued that there is also need for hope for a two-state solution in which Israel would grant the Palestinians their own land.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have explicitly rejected such an arrangement with the Palestinians.
Scholz called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which would also include the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and other groups, as well as a ceasefire in northern Israel and southern Lebanon.
Scholz also urged Iran to stop attacking Israel with missiles: “Iran is playing with fire. This has to stop.”
Ministry: ‘no ban on arms exports’
Opposition lawmakers from the center-right CDU/CSU bloc had previously accused Scholz’s government of failing to adequately support Israel.
Opposition critics explicitly claimed that the government was delaying approval of arms shipments to Israel.
However, the Ministry of Economic Affairs rejected these allegations in the report to the committee obtained by dpa on Wednesday.
“There is no ban on arms exports to Israel,” the ministry reiterated in the report.
Decisions on permits are made on a case-by-case basis and in light of the situation at hand, the ministry said.
“In doing so, the federal government takes into account compliance with international humanitarian law and the current situation in the region, including the escalation caused by Iran’s rocket attacks on Israel, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel and the course of the operation in Syria.” Gaza and Lebanon,” the report said.
