German Chancellor Friedrich Merz explained on Sunday his country's thinking in a short-lived partial arms embargo imposed on Israel in late August, followed by a swift removal of the embargo in mid-November once the Gaza war ended.
Speaking at a press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a state visit to Israel, he said that on one hand, Berlin would always support Israel, in no small part to atone for the Holocaust.
On the other hand, Merz said that Germany believed that Israel should have conducted aspects of the war differently in terms of compliance with international humanitarian law, and there had to be a way for it to send a message to Jerusalem on that issue.
As things stood, Germany was one of the last countries to impose an embargo on selling Israel weapons, and even then, it was one of the few Western European countries which rejected recognizing a Palestinian state in September, and the weapons embargo was only partial.
Further, Germany led the way among western European countries in removing its weapons embargo around a month after the Gaza war ended and when the ceasefire appeared to be stable.
Netanyahu and Merz also met to discuss the delivery last week of the Israeli-made Arrow 3 anti-missile defense system to Germany, as well as trade relations after the conclusion of the Gaza war.
The Arrow 3 has significantly boosted Germany's ability to defend itself from potential Russian ballistic missile attacks.
Trade is a stickier issue as much of Europe is still giving Israel the cold shoulder due to its conduct of the Gaza war and the lack of resolution of the post-war arrangements.
Merz to Netanyahu: Do not annex the West Bank
Following their meeting, Merz called on Netanyahu to agree to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
He also called on Netanyahu not to annex the West Bank.
Netanyahu responded at the press conference that the vast majority of Israelis oppose a Palestinian state in the aftermath of Hamas's October 7 invasion, though he stated that Israel would not annex the West Bank anytime in the near future.
He suggested that discussion of the fate of the West Bank would be pushed off to a much later date, given that the current focus is on how to move on to Phase II of the ceasefire deal between Israel, Hamas, and the US.
Phase I of the deal included an end to wider hostilities, an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and a partial Israeli withdrawal from around 50% of Gaza.
The prime minister said that he expected to advance progress toward Phase II in upcoming meetings with US President Donald Trump.
According to Netanyahu, the US positions on the Phase II International Stabilization Force (ISF), when it will deploy, what its character will be, and how it will be involved in disarming Hamas, is evolving and open for discussion with Israel.
Hamas signed on to giving up aspects of its power in Gaza, but has since backtracked on many of its promises, and the main foreign countries willing to contribute peacekeeping troops are hesitant to send such troops if Hamas does not accept their legitimacy.
Netanyahu hinted that the IDF could take over disarming Hamas at some point if the ISF did not properly perform that role.
Moreover, Netanyahu said that the two had discussed how to continue defense cooperation in a changing world.
Further, he said that they "discussed cooperation in technological matters" as "two of the most advanced economies in the world."
He said those discussions involved the fields of high technology, deep technology, AI (artificial intelligence), and quantum. Netanyahu said that all of these things "will change the face of this planet and humanity," adding that Germany and Israel together could increase the prospects for peace.