Germany’s Whole Defence of Israel Just Fell Apart in Five Moves

Germany is to restore arms exports to Israel in full despite their ongoing ceasefire breaches, but raids at home have exposed some peak hypocrisy. Right, so Germany has decided the ceasefire in Gaza is “stable” enough to restart weapons shipments to Israel from the 24 November, even though the UN and various news agencies have continued to have been logging violations almost as fast as they happen, on pretty much a daily basis and that tells you where Berlin’s head is frankly doesn’t it? They’re not watching the ceasefire; they’re watching for the moment they can say it’s respectable enough to turn the tap back on. And because they’ve convinced themselves that their Staatsräson, their belief that Germany’s historic responsibility towards Jews, erroneously tied as it is to the existence of Israel, outranks international law, the facts on the ground become something they can tidy away with a press line. But the same Germany that can’t bring itself to confront an occupying power has no trouble banning Islamic Activist Group Muslim Interaktiv, raiding homes across Hamburg, Berlin and elsewhere and calling it a victory for security, justifying it by saying they are unconstitutional, as Israel’s actions are unquestioningly protected within German law. One rule for Israel, another for Muslims, and Berlin still pretends that’s principle rather than a hierarchy of racism. Right, so Germany has decided to resume arms exports to Israel from 24 November and, when you strip out the packaging, it is the latest example of a country that still treats Israel as an exception to every rule it claims to believe in. The ceasefire that began on 10 October has been described by German government spokespeople as “stabilised,” even though the reporting and the UN’s own humanitarian office has shown repeated violations: Israeli troops firing on Palestinians during the truce, movement restrictions still in place, aid flows still nowhere near the level UN agencies say is required. Yet Berlin has announced that the August freeze on certain weapons will end next week, and the mechanics behind that decision tell you everything about where power sits and who Germany chooses to indulge. It is framed as a return to a “case-by-case” system, which sounds careful until you understand that case-by-case is how you approve something you already intend to approve, because it replaces a clear moral line with bureaucratic discretion.