He emphasizes that although Merz does not want to talk about genocide, Germany shares the goal of peace and a two-state solution.
The chancellor maintains that Israel can be criticized, but without inciting hatred toward Jews.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez argued this Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has embarked on a “deeply flawed strategy” and argued that, based on Spain’s experience, terrorism is not defeated with an “indiscriminate attack” on the civilian population like the one taking place in Gaza.
At the press conference following his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Sánchez reiterated his condemnation of the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, and his demand for the release of all hostages still held by the terrorist group. He also emphasized that “the people of Spain are friends of the people of Israel.”
That said, as a country that suffered ETA terrorism and also the largest jihadist attack on European soil on March 11, he claimed that “we know how to defeat terrorism.” “And it certainly won’t be defeated the way Israel is doing, carrying out an indiscriminate attack on the civilian population, with more than 60,000 deaths,” he emphasized.
“The result of all this will not only be a more isolated Israel, but also a more insecure Israel and, of course, a much more insecure region than it was before this terrible Hamas attack two years ago,” he warned.
Hence, he defended the importance of conveying to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that “its strategy is profoundly flawed, because it is not guaranteeing the security of its citizens and because it is worsening the situation, not only for the Palestinian people, but also for the entire region.”
DIVERGENCE OVER GENOCIDE
On the other hand, and following the national political debate sparked by the government’s labeling of Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, the president indicated that with Merz, he did not address “how to classify what is happening” and merely stated his position. “The important thing, the decisive thing,” Sánchez maintained, is that both governments “are united in our objectives.”
“We will have disagreements about the paths to achieving that goal. But the EU’s objective is for peaceful coexistence between the Palestinian people and the Israeli people, for violence to cease, for a political horizon that can bring the necessary stability to the Middle East, and ultimately for the suffering to end and for humanitarian aid to be able to enter,” he added.
Merz agreed with Sánchez that Israel’s response to the Hamas attack “is not proportional to the objective it hopes to achieve.” Thus, while he acknowledged that Hamas can end the war if it wants “in a matter of hours” by handing over the hostages and laying down its weapons, “we do not share the Israeli government’s view that in this way it can achieve its objective of permanently eliminating Hamas.”
Therefore, the German chancellor sought to summarize, “we share the criticism regarding the procedure, but we do not share the description of genocide.”
GERMANY WILL NOT RECOGNIZE PALESTINE
He also emphasized once again that Germany has no intention of recognizing Palestine, as Spain did a year ago and as France, the United Kingdom, and several other countries are preparing to do next week. “It is no secret,” the chancellor said, that Germany is not considering taking this step.
“Such recognition should be one of the final steps on the path toward a two-state solution,” he added, arguing that no one should be surprised by a divergence motivated by the country’s history.
Germany stands with Israel, the chancellor emphasized, but that “does not mean that we share all the decisions taken by the Israeli government.”
In this regard, he argued that “it should be possible to criticize the Israeli government’s policy, but it should never become something used to incite hatred against Jews.” “And we both agree on that,” he emphasized.
Thus, he stated that he shares with the Spanish government “the deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the current ground offensive by the Israeli Armed Forces in Gaza City.”
“And we also fear that there may be steps toward annexation in the West Bank, which would make a two-state solution even more difficult. And we want a two-state solution to be a possibility,” he added, highlighting his decision to suspend arms supplies to Israel.
Both also expressed their disagreement regarding the sanctions proposed by the European Commission against Israel. Sánchez reiterated that Spain supports the full suspension of the Association Agreement with Israel, and not a partial one, as Brussels has proposed, while Merz clarified that his government has not yet decided whether it will approve it.
