Deutsche Welle, Members of Germany's opposition are calling for a suspension of arms deliveries to Israel until the end of the current conflict. Germany has a long history of providing Israel with weapons and their components.
As German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier continues his tour of the Middle East, opposition lawmakers and various political organizations at home are stepping up their criticism of Israel's military offensive in Lebanon which they view as disproportionate.
The Greens' defense expert, Winfried Nachtwei, said that Germany should stop all arms deliveries to Israel, arguing that Berlin was guilty of violating binding guidelines on the export of weapons to crisis areas. He added that any deliveries of weapons to the Middle East were politically harmful and not conducive to ending the conflict.
For the first time, a leading member of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Rolf Verleger, has also heavily criticized Israel's strategy, branding it a policy of violence. He said that the Jewish state was killing 10 Lebanese for every one Israeli killed and was destroying the infrastructure of a whole country indiscriminately.
The Central Council of Jews was quick to respond, saying Verleger's remarks were those of an individual and did not represent the views of the Council as a whole.
German arms deliveries to Israel have a long tradition. As early as 1964, German patrol boats and used tanks were sent to Israel. In 1991, German Patriot anti missile defense systems protected the Israeli population against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Scud missiles. While Germany opposed the US-led war against Iraq in 2003, Patriot systems were again sent to Israel.
“In the interest of Israeli security and the security of its citizens and for moral and historical reasons, we will help,” then Chancellor Gerhard Schr
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