star survey
Arms exports to Israel? How the Germans now think about it
The criticism of Israel because of his approach in Gaza becomes louder. The Federal Government checks a stop of arms deliveries. That would find a large majority.
The words of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) on the approach of Israel in Gaza were surprisingly clear last week: “To affect the civilian population in such a way that has been more and more the case in the past few days can no longer be justified with a fight against Hamas terrorism.” Foreign Minister Johann Wadepfuhl (CDU) even announced that it will check German arms deliveries to Israel.
75 percent against weapons for Israel
If it were up to the citizens, the result would be clear: Because of Israel’s procedure in Gaza, 75 percent of Germans are for the time being to stop arms deliveries. This was the result of a Forsa survey on behalf of the star. Only 14 percent are to export weapons from Germany to Israel. Eleven percent do not comment.
There are no big differences among the supporters of the parties in the question of arms exports: all are with a large majority for a delivery stop. Above all, the voters of the Left Party (94 percent), the Greens (78 percent), but also from AfD (77 percent), SPD (76 percent) and CDU/CSU (71 percent). The supporters of other arms deliveries are most likely to be found among the supporters of the SPD and Union. But there are only around one fifth there.
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The federal government does not publish details of German arms exports. In the past, however, the Federal Security Council has repeatedly approved applications. According to the Sipri Peace Research Institute, around thirty percent of Israeli arms imports came from Germany between 2019 and 2023. In the past, the greatest exports were corvettes and submarines, which, however, do not play a major role in the Gaza conflict. According to media reports, Germany delivered portable tank weapons, ammunition for machine guns and machine guns on October 7, 2023. Even the traffic light coalition reduced export permits in the course of 2024.
The data was made by the market and opinion research institute Forsa for the star and RTL Germany on May 28th and 30th. Database: 1000 respondents. Statistical fault tolerance: +/- 3 percentage points. This means that the survey is representative.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
