BERLIN, October 10. /TASS/. Berlin will continue to supply weapons to Israel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, responding to opposition members’ criticism of the government’s lack of support for the Jewish state.
"We did not make a decision not to supply weapons. We have been and will continue to supply weapons. This is the German government's position," he said at a Bundestag debate dedicated to the first anniversary of the Palestinian movement Hamas’s attack on Israel.
"I will not break the Federal Security Council’s secrecy rules but the government has made decisions that will ensure further supplies in the near future, and you will see that it was a false accusation," the chancellor pointed out.
Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, claimed earlier that "the German government has been reluctant to authorize, in particular, the export of ammunition and even the supply of tank parts to Israel in the past few weeks and months." According to him, "a large number of companies" provided documents saying that they had requested permissions but the government had been unable to process them for months.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also addressed the Bundestag. Commenting on weapons supplies to Israel, she noted that the Federal Security Council was responsible for such confidential decisions."Germany has made it clear that we are supplying weapons to support Israel," the top diplomat said. Still, she also highlighted the importance of respect for international law.
According to the German Economy Ministry’s response to a request by Sevim Dagdelen, a Bundestag member representing the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - Reason and Justice party (BSW), the German government did not approve weapons exports to Israel at least between March and August 21. However, Berlin said that it wasn’t boycotting weapons exports to Israel. Dagdelen reiterated the BSW’s demand for a ban on weapons supplies to Israel during the Bundestag debate.