German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announces additional weapons deliveries to Israel.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has declared that Germany is set to send more military equipment to Israel. In response to opposition leader Friedrich Merz's criticism in the Bundestag on Thursday, Scholz stated, "We haven't chosen not to supply weapons. We've supplied weapons before, and we'll supply weapons again."
"This is the position of the federal government," Scholz asserted, reiterating his commitment to upholding the confidentiality rules of the Federal Security Council. "However, we've made decisions within the government that guarantee additional shipments will occur in the near future," the SPD leader clarified.
For several weeks, the federal government has maintained that it hasn't made a decision to halt the delivery of weapons to Israel. Most recently, it rejected a similar request from French President Emmanuel Macron.
Merz, the leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, who had engaged with arms industry representatives on Wednesday, had previously expressed his concern in the Bundestag. "For weeks, if not months, the federal government has been denying export licenses, for instance, for ammunition, and even for delivering replacement parts for tanks to Israel," Merz stated. He pointed out numerous instances where the federal government had denied approval for the dispatch of equipment and materials to Israel. The CDU leader suggested that there might be valid concerns regarding international humanitarian and war laws that would preclude such approvals. But if this is the case, Merz argued, the federal government should just speak up about it.
The Chancellor's remarks in the Bundestag highlighted that The Commission within the German government has made decisions to allow for more military equipment to be sent to Israel. Furthermore, facing criticism from Merz, Scholz affirmed that The Commission has upheld its commitment to providing weapons to Israel in the past and intends to do so in the future.
