SPD politicians call for Germany to stop arming Israel in major U-turn

SPD members of the German parliament have called on their government to stop arming Israel, as fatal air strikes and widespread starvation continue in Gaza.

SPD politicians warn of German complicity in war crimes

Members of Germany’s CDU/SPD coalition have called on their government to end weapons exports to Israel and warned of Germany’s possible complicity in war crimes.

“German weapons should not be used to propagate humanitarian crises and breach human rights”, SPD foreign policy representative Adis Ahmetovic said in an interview with Stern magazine. “We are calling on [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government to be prepared for a ceasefire and return to the negotiating table,” Ahmetovic continued. 

Fellow SPD member Ralf Stegner issued a similar statement: “The Palestinian people’s humanitarian crisis and human rights breaches by the Netanyahu government must end immediately and cannot be prolonged with German weapons”. 

Meanwhile, SPD MP Isabel Cademartori posited that Germany’s current weapons supply policy would not bode well in the International Criminal Court (ICC), where an ongoing case brought by Nicaragua in March 2024 sees the federal republic accused of “facilitating the commission of genocide” in Palestine.

According to the BBC, which referenced Gaza’s health ministry figures, at least 53.939 people, including 16,500 children, have been killed in the territory since the conflict escalated following Hamas’ October 7 attack.

Germany is ready to impose measures against Israel

Stances are also shifting within the CDU, which is currently leading the coalition’s Federal Foreign Office. Speaking to public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, Foreign Ministry representative Armin Laschet (CDU) called Israel’s refusal to allow aid into Gaza “a breach of international law”.

In an interview on ARD’s Bericht aus Berlin (Report from Berlin) programme, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) called the situation in Gaza “unbearable”. Wadephul claimed that Germany has “a clear position; no displacement from Gaza, ending starvation, that the Gaza Strip and West Bank belong to the Palestinian people, on the way to a two-state solution”. 

Wadephul added that Germany was willing to take further measures to prohibit Israel's Gaza offensive. The federal republic’s shifting stance comes as a growing number of European leaders are becoming more critical of the Israeli government’s military operations. 

Last week, governments in the UK, France and Canada, some of Israel’s closest allies, issued a statement calling on Netanyahu’s government to halt its Gaza offensive. In response, Netanyahu accused UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of siding with "mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers".

In Madrid on Sunday, May 25, 20 countries and organisations met to discuss possible routes to ending the war in Gaza, with Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Albares calling for a mass arms embargo on Israel unless further military attacks ceased.