Leading German Opposition Politician Calls For Ending Arms Exports to Israel
The top politician in Germany’s main opposition party has come under fire for questioning Germany’s military commitment to Israel.
Ralf Stegner, vice chair of the Social Democratic Party, also told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in an interview published Sunday said Germany should reconsider its armaments exports to Israel and should never deliver weapons to areas of tension and dictatorships. He questioned German support for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
His remarks were published as a submarine built for Israel in Germany left the shipyard and headed for the Israeli Navy’s Haifa base; it is expected to arrive later this month. The sub is the fourth purchased from Germany.
A fifth German-made submarine is set to arrive in Israel by the end of the year, with a sixth set to be delivered by the end of the decade.
The German-made submarines can carry very long-range cruise missiles that can be equipped with nuclear warheads, according to reports.
The German Defense Ministry condemned the statement.
The American Jewish Committee’s Berlin office in a statement released Monday called on the Social Democratic Party to clarify its position toward Israel.
“Given the upcoming 50th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel, it is particularly strange that Ralf Stegner would put the German-Israeli relationship to the test in such a basic way,” Deidre Berger, head of the AJC Berlin office, said in the statement.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO