The Commission has also been consulted on the draft resolution on the situation in the Middle East.
Germany's historical responsibility for Israel's security, while not legally binding, is what Central Council President Josef Schuster told the newspapers of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) on Tuesday. "But in my view, that naturally means that Germany would also stand militarily at Israel's side in the event of an attack on the scale currently threatened."
Iran has threatened retaliation after blaming Israel for the fatal attack on Hamas chief Ismail Haniyah in Tehran. Israel's closest ally, the USA, has therefore significantly increased its military presence in the region.
CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter had already called at the weekend for the Bundeswehr to participate in protecting Israel. However, on Tuesday, the first parliamentary business manager of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei (CDU), showed restraint. "One must be very careful in the current situation with such demands," he told RTL and ntv. It is not helpful to widely discuss them in public, as much can quickly escalate at the moment.
The deputy chairman of the Union faction, Johann Wadephul, told the RND newspapers, "Scenarios such as military support are not on the agenda as far as we know. In any case, a Bundestag mandate would be needed for that."
The chairman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marcus Faber (FDP), saw a Bundeswehr deployment critically. "Israel has clearly communicated how we can help. We should do that - for example, by quickly approving arms exports," he told the RND newspapers. "The Bundeswehr in Israel was not asked and could help little."
FDP foreign policy expert Ulrich Lechte can imagine the Bundeswehr refueling combat jets of allies. The Bundestag could potentially also grant the mandate for this retroactively, he told the "Tagesspiegel". There, the Green MEP Sergey Lagodinsky also pointed out that the Bundeswehr's presence in the Middle East region is already given through the military operation against the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS). The Bundeswehr is using machines of the type A400M for air refueling there.
SPD defense policy expert Andreas Schwarz emphasized that protecting Israel is a German state interest. "This is a clear promise with very high responsibility," he told the RND newspapers. "In case of emergency, these big words must also be followed by the corresponding deeds."
According to a report by "Spiegel", the Bundeswehr is currently preparing for a large-scale evacuation operation for German citizens. The background is intelligence information that a retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel is expected this week, the magazine reported. The analysts are quite sure that the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia will also massively attack Israel from Lebanon and Israel will have to react.
In their plans, the military is mainly focusing on rescuing Germans from Lebanon, the magazine reported. The air force has kept a small fleet of A400M transport aircraft ready for deployment for several days. The machines could pick up Germans in Beirut, set them down on the nearby island of Cyprus, and fly back towards the Lebanese capital in a few hours. The federal government currently estimates that over 2000 Germans are in Lebanon.
A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Defense did not confirm specific preparations upon request. They cited reasons of "operational security and the protection of all involved." Generally, the Bundeswehr holds resources ready for military evacuation operations, ensuring they can be deployed at short notice and flexibly.
The German Armed Forces, with their resources available for immediate deployment, are currently preparing for a large-scaled evacuation operation to rescue German citizens in Lebanon due to intelligence suggesting an imminent retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel.
Given the increased military presence of Israel's closest ally, the USA, in the region, and the historical responsibility Germany has towards Israel's security, some German politicians have been advocating for Germany's military involvement to support Israel.
