ICC's decision ‘slap in the face’ for German government: Opposition lawmaker

BERLIN

Germany's pro-Israeli government faced mounting pressure Thursday to end its support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration following the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader.

“This arrest warrant is also a slap in the face for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock,” Sahra Wagenknecht, a prominent left-wing politician, said on social media.

She urged the government to immediately impose an arms embargo on Israel.

“What else does it take for the federal government to end its support for the war crimes of the Netanyahu government in Gaza? Arms embargo against Israel, now!” demanded the leader of the left-wing BSW party.

The German government has been a staunch supporter of Israel, with Scholz repeatedly emphasizing Germany’s special responsibility for Israel’s security due to the country’s Nazi past.

Berlin resumed arms sales to Israel in October, despite international concerns about a genocidal military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Left Party lawmaker Nicole Gohlke urged the government to take immediate action.

"The arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant are important signs that Israeli war crimes will also have consequences. I expect the German government to finally stop its fatal support for the Israeli government's war crimes," she said.

Even within the ruling coalition, voices of dissent emerged.

Isabel Cademartori, a lawmaker from the co-ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), echoed calls for a halt to arms exports to Israel.

"The German government must immediately stop supplying arms to the suspected war criminal Netanyahu, who is wanted under an international arrest warrant," she wrote on X.

Germany has not yet officially responded to the ICC's decision or demands for an arms embargo.

The unprecedented move by the ICC has intensified the debate in Germany about the country’s arms export policy and stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, potentially straining diplomatic relations between Berlin and Tel Aviv.

The Hague court announced in a landmark move Thursday that it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant after accusing them of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.

Gallant was fired earlier this month as Israel’s top defense official during its 13-month assault in Gaza, which the ICC warrant focuses on.

The warrants come as Israel’s genocidal offensive in Gaza recently entered its second year, having already killed 44,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 103,000 others.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing and deliberate blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, pushing the population to the brink of starvation.