Forking Out Four Million Euros for Arms Exports to Israel
Authorities endorse weapon sales to Israel
Berlin - The newly minted coalition government, consisting of Union and SPD, has approved Israeli arms deals to the tune of approximately four million euros in the initial five weeks of their rule, as per data obtained by German Press Agency. Notably, neither war weapons nor ammunition were included in these approvals according to the Ministry of Economics' response to Left Bundestag member Desiree Becker, who had made an inquiry regarding the matter.
This is the first official disclosure from the new government detailing the extent of Israeli arms exports they've sanctioned.
Questioning Israel's Actions, Not Intentions
Criticism of German arms exports to Israel has been ongoing due to the military operations carried out by the Israeli Army in the Gaza Strip. Recently, even Construction Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz upped the ante by questioning Israel's conduct in the Gaza Strip, stating, "I no longer understand - quite frankly - what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip, with what goal."
There were even calls from the SPD to cease all arms exports to Israel entirely. However, the Union remains unconvinced by these suggestions.
A Modest Approval Amount
State Secretary Thomas Steffen reported that the federal government allowed German manufacturers to export arms to Israel worth €3.986 million between May 7 and June 10, 2025.
In comparison, the traffic light coalition and later the red-green minority government approved arms deliveries worth almost half a billion euros after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in October 2023. Arms worth €28 million were approved in the first quarter of 2025, placing Israel as the tenth-largest recipient of the German arms industry.
No Significant Shift in Strategy
Chancellery Chief Thorsten Frei explained that the current exports' volume isn't an accurate representation of a change in strategy. "We need to compare larger time periods with each other to genuinely determine if there could be a strategy behind it," he commented to the German Press Agency. "That is not the case here, but rather the stance towards Israel has not changed through the federal government."
A few international bodies, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, have lambasted Germany’s arms exports to Israel, presumably aiding and abetting alleged genocide in Nicaragua[1]. Left MP Becker characterized this as a hasty and humanitarian disaster, stating, "It's irresponsible and a humanitarian disgrace that the federal government has approved arms exports worth four million euros ‘in the middle of a further escalating war,’ when one could have delivered countless medicines and food to the Gaza Strip instead."
[1] Data sources: - dpa: Arm exports to Israel discussed intensively - dw: Germany's weapon exports to Israel continue despite criticism - Tagesschau: Bundesregierung freigibt nach Verhängung Rüstungshaltung (Translated to English) - Arab News: Germany decides to thoroughly review its arms exports to Israel - Foreign Policy: German arms exports are controversial in Middle East
- The recent approval of four million euros in arms exports to Israel by the new German coalition government has stirred discussions in the realm of politics, policy-and-legislation, and general-news, with critics questioning Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.
- Despite the ongoing criticisms of arms exports to Israel, the current government's volume of approved exports does not signal a significant shift in strategy, according to Chancellery Chief Thorsten Frei, who raises the need for comparison of larger time periods to fully assess the potential implications.
