Bild: Berlin practices a quiet ban on arms sales to Israel
The German Bild newspaper revealed, citing unnamed informed sources, that Germany is practicing a quiet ban on selling weapons to Israel.
Bild said that the Israeli government requested last year to buy thousands of shells for tanks, in addition to requests for additional weapons, but Berlin hasn’t yet made a decision on the sale.
But on the other hand, the Bild newspaper reported – according to what was reported by Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper – that Germany agreed in the first half of this year to sell weapons to Qatar worth slightly more than 100 million Euros.
Bild newspaper wrote on Sunday evening that for Israel, which is currently fighting on several fronts, purchasing certain military equipment from abroad is of particular importance.
Informed sources told the German newspaper that almost all of Israel’s requests since the outbreak of the war on Gaza to purchase weapons from Germany have been delayed, and only a few requests have been approved.
Although no decision has been made not to sell to Israel, orders have long dried up, akin to a de facto arms embargo.
Germany hasn’t approved a single request to export weapons to Israel since last March, in exchange for 20 million Euros last year.
Since the beginning of the year, the export volume of offensive weapons (as opposed to defensive equipment intended for protection such as helmets or vests) has decreased from around 20 million Euros in 2023 to just around 32 thousand Euros since the beginning of this year.
The delay comes amid internal disputes in Germany between the Chancellor’s Office and the National Security Council, which support arms sales to Israel, and the German Foreign Ministry, which opposes it.
But Yedioth Ahronoth says that it’s important at the same time to emphasize that Germany supports Israel in international organizations and has thwarted a fair number of initiatives against Israel, while its position on arms sales is complex, and the German government isn’t considered one piece.
