\n German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Israel on Saturday for his first visit since taking office, aiming to reaffirm traditionally solid ties that were shaken during the Gaza war.\n<\/p>\n
\n After a brief stop in Jordan, Merz landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport just before 8 pm local time (1800 GMT) and was met by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who called him \"a friend of Israel\" and said Germany was \"an important partner\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Merz is due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem later Saturday.\n<\/p>\n
\n The German chancellor earlier held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II and told reporters they had focused largely on the fragile peace process in Israel and the Palestinian territories.\n<\/p>\n
\n Merz urged more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza and Hamas fighters to lay down their weapons. He said Jordan and Germany both remain committed to a negotiated two-state solution.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There can be no place for terrorism and antisemitism in this shared future,\" Merz said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Jordan's royal palace said in a statement that Abdullah stressed \"the need to commit to implementing all stages of the agreement to end the war and deliver humanitarian aid to all areas of the Strip\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The king also warned of \"the danger of continued Israeli escalations in the West Bank\", which Israel has occupied since 1967.\n<\/p>\n
\n In Jerusalem on Sunday, Merz is scheduled to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial before meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Ties shaken -\n<\/p>\n
\n Given the dark legacy of Nazi Germany's industrial-scale murder of Jews, German leaders have long seen unflinching support for Israel as a bedrock of the country's foreign policy.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a speech in September celebrating the reopening of Munich's synagogue, which was severely damaged by the Nazis, Merz visibly struggled to hold back tears, his voice breaking.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Israeli-German ties were shaken during the Gaza war set off by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.\n<\/p>\n
\n Merz, who took power in May, has repeatedly criticised Israel's relentless military campaign, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.\n<\/p>\n
\n In August, he also moved to restrict sales of weapons for use in Gaza.\n<\/p>\n
\n Since a fragile US-backed ceasefire and hostage deal ended full-scale fighting, Germany has lifted those export restrictions.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite the ceasefire, more than 350 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, as well as three Israeli soldiers.\n<\/p>\n
\n The UN also warns that Israel is still not allowing enough aid into Gaza.\n<\/p>\n
\n Before leaving Berlin on Saturday, Merz spoke with Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmud Abbas.\n<\/p>\n
\n A spokesman said Merz underscored German support for a two-state solution but urged Abbas to push through \"urgently necessary reforms\" of the PA in order to play a \"constructive role\" in the postwar order.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Signal of support' -\n<\/p>\n
\n After the recent strains, Israel expects a \"signal of continued support\" from Merz, said Michael Rimmel, head of the Jerusalem office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, affiliated with Merz's centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU).\n<\/p>\n
\n Bilateral relations have been strained over the past two years but remain \"better than many people think\", Rimmel told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n But he said Berlin has little discernible influence on Netanyahu's government, which has pushed on with West Bank settlements despite protests from Berlin and elsewhere, and dismissed calls for a two-state solution.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Certainly, President Trump and the Americans have greater influence,\" said Rimmel, noting that the US president was able to pressure Netanyahu into the Gaza ceasefire.\n<\/p>\n
\n Gil Shohat, head of the Tel Aviv office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, which is affiliated with Germany's far-left Die Linke party, sharply criticised Merz for the trip.\n<\/p>\n
\n Shohat argued that Merz is effectively offering political support to Netanyahu and Israel's hard-right government.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Netanyahu is a wanted war criminal and is under suspicion of corruption,\" said Shohat. \"Going there now and legitimising him is a fatal sign of normalisation in a situation that must not be normalised.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - Defence deals -\n<\/p>\n
\n Although Merz's public criticism of Israel was unusual for a German leader, it was measured by international standards.\n<\/p>\n
\n Merz recently offered Israel full-throated support as European broadcasters weighed whether to exclude the country from the annual Eurovision Song Contest, calling such a possibility \"scandalous\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The decision to include Israel in the upcoming Eurovision event was warmly welcomed in Berlin.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite the close ties, German officials have said there are currently no plans to invite Netanyahu -- who faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes in Gaza from the International Criminal Court (ICC) -- to Berlin.\n<\/p>\n
\n Merz this year vowed to invite the Israeli leader and told him he would not be arrested.\n<\/p>\n
\n Any tensions have also not disrupted key military ties. Germany last week put into operation the first phase of the Israeli-made Arrow missile defence shield.\n<\/p>\n
\n The $4.5 billion deal was reportedly the largest arms export agreement in Israeli history, and Berlin has also turned to Israeli firms for help in drone defence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Israel on Saturday for his first visit since taking office, aiming to reaffirm traditionally solid ties that were shaken during the Gaza war. After a brief stop in Jordan, Merz landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport just before 8 pm local time (1800 GMT) and was met by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-153319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n