Kinshasa, May 26th, 2025 (CPA) – The German chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday has denounced the intensification of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, saying he ‘no longer understands the objective of the Israeli army’ and threatening not to be able to continue to support the government of Netanyahu, the international media have reported.
‘The Israeli government must not do anything that its best friends are no longer prepared to accept. The actions of this country, of which Berlin is one of the most loyal allies along with the United States’, has declared Friedrich Merz. Merz was particularly critical of Israel’s military strategy, admitting that he no longer understood the objectives pursued by Tsahal. ‘I no longer understand what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip, or why the civilian population is suffering such an impact’, he has maintained.
The Chancellor has announced his intention of organising a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week to ask him ‘not to go too far’. However, he has underlined that Germany, for ‘historical reasons’, will always remain more measured in its criticism than other European partners. Merz has also stated that he « no longer understands » the objectives of the Israeli army in Gaza, as the offensive in the Palestinian enclave intensifies.
He has made it clear that he intends to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week to tell him ‘not to go too far’, while adding that, for ‘historical reasons’, Germany will always remain more measured in its criticism than a number of its European partners. Germany has long been a fervent supporter of Israel, particularly as part of its policy of remembrance of the Shoah. However, the war waged against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the pogrom of October 7th 2023, has complicated this stance and cast a shadow over bilateral relations, with Berlin endeavouring to adopt as balanced a position as possible.