TURKU, Finland/BERLIN –
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered his most severe rebuke of Israel to date on Tuesday, criticizing massive airstrikes on Gaza as no longer justified by the need to fight Hamas and “no longer comprehensible.”
The message, delivered from a news conference in Finland, reflects a broader shift in public opinion but also a greater willingness from top-ranking German politicians to criticize Israel’s conduct since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
There was similar criticism from Merz’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul and calls among his junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, to halt arms exports to Israel or else risk German complicity in war crimes.
