For four million euros: Government Merz approved arms exports to Israel

The new federal government of Union and SPD approved arms exports to Israel for almost four million euros in the first five weeks of its term. However, weapons of war were not among them, as the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced at a request from the left-wing member of the Bundestag Desiree Becker, which the German Press Agency had. It is the first time that the new government informs about the scope of the arms exports it approved by Israel.

According to Chancellor’s head Thorsten Frei, the Israeli attacks on Iran will not change anything at the approval practice. “We want to do everything so that Israel is able to defend itself and to be able to secure its own existence permanently,” said the CDU politician in a dpa interview to a question. “We feel committed to this and that also applies to the future.”

Requirements for arms export stop from the SPD

The German arms exports to Israel have been highly controversial for months, primarily because of the military approach of the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. Even Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) had recently tightened his criticism of Israel. “What the Israeli army is now doing in the Gaza Strip, I understand-openly stood-no longer with what goal,” he said at the WDR European European at the end of May. From the SPD, there were even demands to completely post arms exports to Israel. The Union rejects this.

The extent of the permits comparatively low

According to the response from the Secretary of Economics Thomas Steffen to the parliamentary request of the left, the federal government allowed German manufacturers between May 7 and June 10, 2025 to Israel for 3.986 million euros.

The scope is relatively low compared to the previous government. The traffic light coalition and later the red-green minority government had approved arms deliveries for almost half a billion euros on October 7, 2023 after Hamas’ terrorist attack. In the first quarter of 2025 it was 28 million euros. Israel was the most important recipient countries in the German armaments industry.

No strategy change according to free

However, freely emphasized that this was not easily comparable. “You would have to compare larger periods in order to actually recognize that a strategy could hide behind it,” he told the dpa. “This is not the case here, but the attitude towards Israel has not changed by the federal government.”

Lawsuit at the International Court of Justice

The German armaments are also criticized internationally. At the International Court of Justice (IGH) in the Haag, a lawsuit from the Latin American country Nicaragua is pending, which therefore accuses Germany of the aid for genocide.

The left-wing MP Becker called it “unsuccessful and humanitarian scandalous” that the federal government had approved arms exports for four million euros in the middle of a “further escalating war”. To do this, you could have delivered “countless medication and food” in the Gaza Strip.