Global justice: The ICC is responsible for investigating and trying people charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community such as genocide and war crimes. — Reuters
IT is rather disturbing to note that the incoming leader of Germany, Friedrich Merz, has indicated he is inviting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the country despite its obligations to international norms and laws.
To add to the ignominy, Merz went further to criticise the International Criminal Court as scandalous for the international court’s decision to label Netanyahu a “war criminal”.
The chancellor-elect also promised Netanyahu that the new German government “would find ways and means for him to visit Germany and leave again without being arrested in Germany”, stressing that it is “a completely absurd notion that an Israeli prime minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany”.
Past German leaders too were very pro-Israel; this stance seemingly stemming from the guilt of Germany’s past actions, namely its World War 2 “crimes against humanity” evidenced in what is remembered as the Holocaust, where millions of Jews were massacred by then Nazi Germany.
The stigma of this guilt has come down so many generations that one has to wonder if it will ever disappear. Germany’s “guilt” is so deep that it took on a profound sense of responsibility for the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
This historical accountability has apparently been fixed into Germany’s policies and its unwavering support for Israel’s “security” and existence.
Over the years, Germany has consistently emphasised its “special responsibility” for Israel, often referring to this as a “reason of state” (Staatsräson). Israel’s security is considered a fundamental national interest for Germany.
The same guilty feeling has caused Germany to go against international norms and laws, even those which it had agreed to or signed as in the case of international conventions or agreements, just to be on the side of Israel.
For instance, Germany has signed and ratified the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention); the 1949 Geneva Convention, which set the standards for humanitarian treatment during war; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and crucially the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which established the ICC to prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
During the current Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Germany stands out as one of the most prominent supporters of the genocidal regime by providing weapons of mass destruction to the Zionist entity.
In 2023, Germany’s licensed arms exports to Israel was worth €326.5mil (RM1.6bil), a tenfold increase from the previous year. Germany has become one of Israel’s key arms suppliers, accounting for about 30% of Israel’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023.
This despite mounting criticism from human rights organisations and other critics that supplying weapons to Israel during its military actions in Gaza could violate international law, particularly the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The ATT prohibits arms transfers if there is a significant risk they will be used to commit war crimes.
Germany has faced legal challenges over its arms exports to Israel. For instance, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) has filed lawsuits saying that such arms exports endanger civilians in Gaza and violate international law. Yet Germany stubbornly continues its these exports, citing its historical responsibility towards Israel and its commitment to Israel’s “security”.
And despite the international commitments that Germany has signed on to, the incoming Chancellor went on to invite the wanted Israeli leader to the country. Merz’s invitation makes it rather clear that a government under his leadership will continue to support Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians and even expand that support.
The previous government – a coalition of the Social Democrats, Greens and Liberal Democrats (FDP) under Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) – has been facilitating the genocide from the outset. Not only did it defend the crimes committed in Gaza and supply Israel with weapons, but it also denounced and criminalised anyone who criticised the genocidal war as “antisemitic.” Just a few days before Germany’s federal election, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese was intimidated by police in Berlin, who monitored her speech criticising the Israeli genocidal war.
No one is saying that the issue of the Holocaust, which was undeniably a terrible incident that happened in human history, should be sidelined. But to continue to link it to and use it for the justification of equally inhumane actions decades later is simply not acceptable.
Germany’s leadership cannot continue to be held to ransom over something defined as “guilt” when in actual fact this “guilt” is not applicable in the case of the settler-colonial entity known as Israel.
How could a regime bent on ethnically cleansing a whole nation of people just so it can expand its borders – while committing the worst kinds of atrocities including genocide – be accorded arms security and diplomatic support solely based on historical commitment?
Ever since its establishment, Israel has been on a programme of ethnically cleansing the Palestinians, and when successive leaders of Israel either pay lip service to the two-state solution or outrightly reject it – as Netanyahu has repeatedly done - it is obvious that Israel should not be rewarded with special rights or even status but instead it should be sanctioned, and its leaders held accountable for the crimes they have committed against humanity.
No one disputes the reason behind the need to “atone for sins committed” as grave as the one that Germany has done in the past. But one should also ask – isn’t it also its responsibility to prevent a new holocaust or genocide?
What justification can be given when a nation founded on the high values cherished by all humans suddenly invites a wanted war criminal to its soil when this nation itself has ratified the very statute that set up the ICC which has issued the arrest warrant?
Should not Germany be in the forefront upholding international law and international institutions just as it had agreed to the various agreements and conventions at the United Nations for a more peaceful and orderly world?
It would have been a boon for that nation if it had conformed to its international commitment regarding international humanitarian law in the case of Palestine. Its pro-Israel stance does not have to be at the expense of Palestine.
In fact, when the genocide went into full swing in the months following October 2023, Germany, not South Africa, should have taken the lead to bring charges of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice for the crime of genocide.
This would have really proved its commitment and principled stand against all forms of genocide as a result of its past history.
Dr Abdul Latiff Mohd Ibrahim is head of Research and Publications Division at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia. The views expressed here are solely the writer’s own.
