Germany has restricted new exports of weapons of war to Israel while addressing judicial challengesaccording to a Reuters data analysis and a source close to the Ministry of Economy.
A source close to the ministry quoted a senior official of the Government saying that it had stopped working on approving export licenses for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such Germany’s exports violate humanitarian law.
He Ministry of Economy said on Thursday that there was no ban on arms exports to Israel and that there would be noand that decisions were made on a case-by-case basis after careful review, adding that international law and foreign and security policy were key factors in their assessments.
“There is no boycott German to the earms exportation against Israel“a government spokesman said Wednesday, commenting on the report.
Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros (US$363.5 million), including military equipment and weapons of warwhich meant multiplying by 10 those of 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, which approves export licenses.
However, Approvals have fallen this year, with only €14.5 million granted from January to August 21according to data provided by the ministry in response to a parliamentary question. Of these, the “weapons of war” category accounted for only 32,449 euros.
A source close to the Ministry of Economy quoted a senior official of the Government who said that work on approving arms export licenses had stopped Israel awaiting resolution of court caseswhich argued that sales from Germany violate humanitarian law.
The ministry did not respond. to requests for comments.
In his defense of two cases, one before the International Court of Justice and another in Berlin brought by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), The government has said that no weapons of war have been exported under any licence issued since the 7 October attacks. Hamas against Israelapart from spare parts for long-term contracts, the source added.
The Israeli offensive against Loop has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since October 7, according to the local Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.It has also displaced most of the country’s population of 2.3 million, sparked a hunger crisis and led to accusations of genocide before the World Court, which Israel denies.
So far, no case challenging German arms exports to Israel has been successful.including a case brought by Nicaragua before the ICJ.
Disagreement on arms exports
But the issue has created friction within the Government, as the Foreign Ministry maintains its support for Israelwhile the Green-led ministries of economics and foreign affairs, sensitive to criticism from party members, have increasingly questioned the government. Netanyahu.
Legal challenges across Europe have also prompted other Israeli allies to pause or suspend arms exports.Britain this month suspended 30 of the 350 arms export licenses to Israel amid concerns that Israel may be violating international humanitarian law.
In February, A Dutch court has ordered the Netherlands to stop all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israelamid concerns about its use in attacks against civilian targets in Loop.
This year, The President’s Government Joe Biden stopped – but then resumed – the shipments of some bombs to Israel after the concern of USA for its use in the densely populated LoopApprovals and shipments of other types of weapons, of more precise systems, continued as U.S. officials maintained that Israel needed the capability to defend itself.
Alexander Schwarz, a lawyer for ECCHR, which has filed five lawsuits against Berlin, suggested the significant drop in approvals for 2024 indicated a genuine, if possibly temporary, reluctance to supply arms to Israel.“However, I would not interpret this as a conscious change of policy,” Schwarz added.
