Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz held an expanded meeting in Jerusalem to discuss post-war Gaza plans, Israel–Germany defense ties, and the recent delivery of the Arrow 3 missile-defense system to Berlin. The leaders focused on security cooperation, trade relations after the Gaza conflict, and Germany’s stance against recognizing Palestinian statehood at this stage. Their talks come as diplomatic efforts intensify around Gaza’s future and Europe’s role in regional stability.
#Netanyahu #Merz #Germany #Israel #GazaWar #PeacePlan #Arrow3 #Jerusalem #MiddleEast #GermanyIsraelRelations #MissileDefense #BreakingNews #LiveUpdate #Diplomacy #GazaConflict #BibiNetanyahu #FriedrichMerz #IsraelPolitics #GermanPolitics #TradeRelations #PostWarPlan #EuropeanDiplomacy #SecurityTalks #NoRecognition #Palestine #ForeignPolicy #IsraelNews #MiddleEastPeace #DefenseCooperation #InternationalRelations
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#Netanyahu #Merz #Germany #Israel #GazaWar #PeacePlan #Arrow3 #Jerusalem #MiddleEast #GermanyIsraelRelations #MissileDefense #BreakingNews #LiveUpdate #Diplomacy #GazaConflict #BibiNetanyahu #FriedrichMerz #IsraelPolitics #GermanPolitics #TradeRelations #PostWarPlan #EuropeanDiplomacy #SecurityTalks #NoRecognition #Palestine #ForeignPolicy #IsraelNews #MiddleEastPeace #DefenseCooperation #InternationalRelations
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon everybody. Welcome to the Prime Minister's office. Today the Prime
00:09Minister and Chancellor will be giving a statement each. Following that they will
00:15both take questions. One question from the Israeli outlets will be for the...
00:23Wait wait not now. First of all the statements. And one question from the
00:30foreign outlets. For each, four all together, this press conference will be
00:38held in English. So please ask the questions in English. That's it. Just
00:46your patience. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor will be in shortly. Thank you.
00:53Vielen Dank. Ja, meine Damen und Herren, zunächst möchte ich dem Premierminister
01:07von Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, sehr herzlich Dank sagen für die Gastfreundschaft und für
01:13das sehr ausführliche und sehr lange Gespräch. Dies ist nicht mein erster Besuch hier im Haus,
01:18aber das ist mein erster Besuch als Bundeskanzler und insofern ein besonderer
01:23Antrittsbesuch. Ich komme als ein Freund des Landes, als ein Freund Israels, der weiß,
01:30dass die Freundschaft zwischen Deutschland und Israel unendlich wertvoll und kostbar ist.
01:36Und sie wird auch niemals selbstverständlich sein. Und wir werden immer auch an die Vergangenheit
01:42denken, wenn wir uns in der Gegenwart treffen und über die Zukunft miteinander sprechen. Mein
01:48Besuch fällt in eine schwere Zeit für das israelische Volk und auch in vielschichtige Zeiten für die
01:55Beziehungen zwischen unseren beiden Ländern. Deshalb komme ich später, als ich eigentlich gewünscht
02:01habe. Und deshalb will ich einige ganz grundsätzliche Worte zu unseren Beziehungen sagen. Ich habe den Tag
02:07mit Bedacht in Yad Vashem begonnen. Ich habe dort der sechs Millionen Männer, Frauen und Kinder aus
02:14ganz Europa gedacht, die von Deutschen ermordet wurden, weil sie Juden waren. Das Trauma der Shoah ist
02:22ein unauslöschlicher Teil der israelischen Identität. Auch für die Identität meines Landes bleibt sie
02:29prägend und sie muss auch prägend bleiben. Wir werden die Erinnerung immer lebendig halten an dieses
02:35monströse Verbrechen, das Deutsche am jüdischen Volk begangen haben. In Yad Vashem an diesem Ort ist mit
02:43Händen zu greifen, welche bleibende historische Verantwortung Deutschland trägt. Deutschland wird
02:50deshalb immer für die Existenz und die Sicherheit Israels einstehen. Das gehört zum unveränderlichen
02:56Wesenskern unserer Beziehungen. Das gilt für heute, das gilt für morgen und das gilt für immer. Und nun nach den
03:02schrecklichen Terroranschlägen der Hamas am 7. Oktober 2023 hat sich Deutschland erneut und klar fest an die
03:09Seite Israels gestellt. Wir haben mit dem israelischen Volk um die Toten getrauert. Wir haben mit ihnen um die
03:18Geiseln gebangt und gerungen, unter denen auch zahlreiche deutsche Staatsangehörige waren. Israel hat das Recht und
03:26geradezu die Pflicht, seine Bürger und seine Existenz gegen diejenigen zu verteidigen, die dem
03:32demokratischen jüdischen Staat das Existenzrecht immer wieder absprechen. Kein Staat kann es hinnehmen,
03:39dass seine Bürger, wie etwa in den Kibbutzim um Gaza, von islamistischen Terroristen ermordet,
03:46entführt und gefoltert werden. Deshalb haben wir ihnen beigestanden, auch als sich im Verlauf des
03:53Gaza-Krieges viele abgewandt haben. Im Verlauf dieses langen Krieges hat uns aber das Vorgehen der
03:59israelischen Regierung auch in ein gewisses Dilemma geführt. Deutschland muss für Israels
04:06Sicherheit einstehen und Deutschland muss für Menschenwürde und Recht einstehen, die den Kern
04:12unserer Verfassung, gerade nach Shoah und Weltkrieg, ausmachen. Als Land im Krieg, als demokratischer
04:18Rechtsstaat, musste sich Israel in seinem militärischen Vorgehen eben auch am Völkerrecht
04:24messen lassen. Dabei dürfen wir zugleich nie vergessen, von wem die Aggression ausging. Der
04:30militanten Hamas, die sich eben nicht um Menschenleben und Völkerrecht schert. Angesichts des schweren
04:36Leids, das die Zivilbevölkerung Gazas erfahren hat, mussten wir hier auch Zeichen setzen. Inzwischen
04:42haben wir, dank der Vermittlung von Präsident Trump, einen Waffenstillstand in Gaza. Es gibt immer wieder
04:48Kriege, aber der Krieg, der zwei Jahre lang gewütet hat, ist zu Ende. Und ein Frieden,
04:54ein dauerhafter Frieden ist möglich. Die Heimkehr der letzten überlebenden Geiseln, unter ihnen
04:59deutsche Staatsangehörige, hat uns berührt und auch beglückt. Jetzt muss gelingen, und darüber haben
05:05wir beide gesprochen, die zweite Phase des Friedenplans zu verwirklichen. Deutschland hilft. Wir haben
05:11Offiziere und Diplomaten in das zivilmilitärische Zentrum in Kiriatgat entsandt. Wir leisten humanitäre
05:18Unterstützung für die Menschen in Gaza, die weiter unter sehr prekären Umständen leben. Wir
05:23werden zum Wiederaufbau beitragen. Vor allem werden wir uns weiter diplomatisch engagieren,
05:28damit der Frieden kommt. Dabei steht fest, es kann in Gaza keine Rolle für die Hamas geben. Von Gaza
05:35darf eben keine Gefahr für Israel mehr ausgehen. Wir dürfen jetzt nicht zu kurz springen und denken.
05:43Nach den Traumata des Krieges, die Israelis wie Palästinenser durchlitten haben, müssen wir das
05:47Fundament einer neuen Ordnung hier in der Region legen. Einer neuen Ordnung, in der Israelis,
05:52Palästinenser und arabische Nachbarn dauerhaft in Frieden, Freiheit, Sicherheit und Würde leben
05:58können. Wir arbeiten mit an dem Ziel eines neuen Nahen Ostens, in dem auch der Staat Israel als Teil
06:05seiner selbst anerkannt wird und auch angenommen wird. Unsere Überzeugung lautet, die perspektivische
06:12Gründung eines palästinensischen Staates an der Seite Israels eröffnet, vermutlich die beste
06:17Aussicht auf eben diese Zukunft. Eine Zwei-Staaten-Lösung wird sich nur durch Verhandlungen
06:22verwirklichen lassen und sie wird am Ende dieser Verhandlungen stehen. Aber diese Verhandlungen
06:27sind eben jetzt notwendig. Die deutsche Bundesregierung bleibt bei ihrer Auffassung, dass die Anerkennung
06:32eines palästinensischen Staates am Ende und nicht am Anfang eines solchen Prozesses stehen kann.
06:39Die Bundesregierung leistet deshalb der palästinensischen Automobilbehörde Hilfen. Man kann diese Behörde
06:44in vielem zu Recht kritisieren. Ich tue das auch. Ich habe darüber auch gestern Morgen mit Präsident
06:49Abbas gesprochen. Aber gerade jetzt, da es Reformansätze gibt, sollten wir unterstützen. Zur Wahrheit gehört
06:57auch, meine Damen und Herren, dass es aus unserer Sicht keine Annexionsschritte im Westjordanland geben
07:02kann, keine formellen, keine politischen, baulichen oder sonstigen Maßnahmen, die in ihrer Wirkung auf eine
07:08Annexion hinauslaufen. Nun lassen Sie mich abschließend noch ein Wort zur deutschen Debatte über Israel in
07:13Pfuh fügen, die in den letzten Monaten geführt worden ist. Kritik an der israelischen Regierung
07:18ist möglich und manchmal vielleicht sogar notwendig. Das ist so zwischen freien Gesellschaften und offenen
07:23Demokratien. Das halten die Beziehungen zwischen Deutschland und Israel auch aus. Aber Kritik an der
07:28Politik der israelischen Regierung darf nicht als Vorwand für Antisemitismus missbraucht werden,
07:33schon gar nicht in Deutschland. Auch das zählt zu unserer geschichtlichen Verantwortung. Ich
07:38wünsche dem israelischen Volk, dass nun nach schweren Jahren von Terror und Krieg eine bessere Zeit
07:44beginnt. Ich wünsche es Ihnen, Herr Ministerpräsident, dir, lieber Bibi, dass die Entscheidungen getroffen
07:50werden, die zu Frieden und guter Nachbarschaft in der Region beitragen. Deutschland wird dabei, wie ich gesagt
07:56habe, in tiefer Freundschaft an der Seite dieses Landes stehen und ich persönlich auch. Herzlichen Dank
08:03noch einmal für die großartige Gastfreundschaft und für das gute Gespräch, das wir miteinander hatten.
08:07Thank you, Chancellor Friedrich. It's good to welcome you and your delegation to Jerusalem. Not for the
08:15first time, but as you say, the first time as Chancellor. We had the opportunity between these visits to speak
08:22many times on the phone. And I have to tell you, I speak to many world leaders. When I speak to Friedrich Merz,
08:31it's an open, honest conversation, even when we have disagreements, and often we have agreements. But these
08:40are open conversations between friends and people who respect each other. I have to say that I took note,
08:49not only of our differences, but also the forthright statements that you made about what Israel is
08:56doing for the rest of humanity. You said that during the Rising Line Operation, our 12-day war with Iran.
09:04You said it just now in Ankara quite forcefully. And I think these and other statements are very important,
09:13because they reflect a deeper commitment which expresses the intertwined destinies of Israel and Germany.
09:22We went through the greatest tragedy that any people suffered on German soil and committed by Germans.
09:31And the generations that followed the Holocaust understood that there was a special moral commitment
09:36to enable the Jewish state, the Jewish people to recover from this horror. And Germany was committed
09:45and remains committed to Israel's security in many important ways. What has happened since the rise of the
09:51Jewish state is that we have been able to fend off our enemies. And in order to do that, we developed
09:58capacities that now enable us to reciprocate. Not only does Germany work in the defense of Israel,
10:08but Israel, the Jewish state, 80 years after the Holocaust, works for the defense of Germany.
10:16And that is a historical change that comes at the time of great
10:22international turbulence and change. We discussed the ways that we can continue this defense cooperation
10:32in a changing world. But it's not only cooperation in military matters. We discussed the cooperation
10:40in technological matters. Israel and Germany are two of the most advanced economies in the world.
10:47We have extraordinary people, extraordinarily gifted people. And in the field of high technology,
10:56high tech, deep tech, AI, quantum, all these things that are going to change
11:03the face of this planet and the future of humanity. These are things that will re-rank very high.
11:10But together, cooperating in this will rank even higher. There's not much space to go.
11:15But I think that working together, we can not only better the citizens of Israel and Germany,
11:21but I think we can better the world and our immediate neighborhood, the Middle East.
11:26So we discussed that, and we are ready to seize the future together. This will help peace.
11:34We are at the point where we believe that peace opportunities are at hand.
11:38The Iran axis has been battered. It was the major engine of disruption in the negative sense of
11:49terrorism, of extremism and fanaticism. And it's definitely been relegated to a back seat.
11:56So now opportunities for peace are there. We tend to exploit them. I'm going to discuss them with
12:02President Trump when I meet him later on this month. But we discussed them as well. And we discussed,
12:09of course, how to bring an end to the Hamas rule in Gaza, because that's an essential part
12:16of ensuring a different future for Gaza and a different future for us facing Gaza.
12:21We finished the first part, as you know, phase one. We're almost there. We have one more hostage,
12:28deceased, Hanigvili, a hero of Israel, to return here. And then we very shortly expect to move
12:37into the second phase, which is more difficult, or equally difficult. I would say more difficult,
12:42because nobody believed that with our combined action, Israel's military action in Gaza City,
12:48and President Trump's effective diplomatic action in bringing the Arab and Muslim world to press
12:55Hamas, to give up the hostages. Nobody believed that we would achieve it, but we did. And now we
13:01have a second phase, no less daunting, and that is to achieve the disarmament of Hamas and the
13:06demilitarization of Gaza. And as I mentioned to the Chancellor, there's a third phase, and that is
13:12to de-radicalize Gaza, something that also people believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany.
13:19It was done in Japan. It's done in the Gulf states. It can be done in Gaza, too. But of course, Hamas has
13:25to be dismantled. These are challenges in front of us, but we do not shirk from them. We think we have
13:33great opportunities. I think Israel, the people of Israel, the soldiers of Israel, have demonstrated
13:38amazing resilience and amazing courage. We have fought a seven-front war against maligned forces
13:45led by Iran that are openly committed to annihilate us. This, eight decades after the Holocaust,
13:52an openly declared attempt to annihilate the Jewish state. Imagine that you had an openly declared
13:59attempt to annihilate Germany, or an openly declared attempt to annihilate France,
14:05or Austria, or any other country. Israel, faced with that, obviously mustered its resources,
14:14and fought a just war with just means. We are undergoing vilification on a historic scale.
14:22A historic scale for the last 80 years, but not for the Jewish people. We've been maligned through
14:27centuries. In the Middle Ages, in Germany, and throughout medieval Europe, we were accused of
14:33poisoning the wells, of slaughtering Christian children to use their blood to bake Passover matzahs.
14:41We were carrying vermin. These were the accusations that always preceded the actual annihilation
14:49that followed, and Jews were attacked. They suffered pogroms, they suffered expulsions,
14:57and they suffered wholesale massacres from a large, very large swath, from Spain to Ukraine.
15:05Enormous vilifications, enormous attacks culminating in the greatest massacre of them all,
15:12the Holocaust. What has happened since we thought, some thought, actually I didn't, but some thought,
15:20that anti-Semitism was gone. It's not gone. That cyclical phenomena of attacking the Jews
15:28in ways that prepare their destruction, delegitimize them, was transferred from the Jewish
15:34people to the Jewish state. It just took a respite. A few decades where anti-Semitism was not done in
15:41polite company. Now it's done in every capital. And people carry the flags of Hamas.
15:48Flags of Hamas. These people who tortured women, raped them, then beheaded them,
15:56burned children alive, babies alive, took hostages, Holocaust survivors, babies. This is outrageous.
16:07People demonstrate for them and accuse Israel of bogus war crimes because Israel has gone to
16:14lengths that no army in history has done in the most difficult urban situation, urban warfare situation.
16:21Asking the population to leave and Hamas shooting them to keep them there so the casualties can appear
16:29on the various international networks. I understand the enormous
16:37effect this has on the public in Germany and Europe and to some extent America. But I will tell you,
16:47as I told the Chancellor, there's one big difference. We may not be able to control that,
16:53but we have changed Jewish history in the sense that those who vilify us can no longer annihilate us.
17:00Because when they come to do that, as they did on October 7th, we roll them back. And as they try to
17:06put a noose of death around us, as Iran tried with its proxies, we roll them back. That's the big difference.
17:13And I think this truth will emanate. And I commend the Chancellor for speaking the truth in a number of
17:22important occasions. But we still have a job to do to explain what it is we're fighting,
17:29how we're fighting it, and why we're doing not only, what we're doing is not only for our defense,
17:35but for Germany's defense, and the defense of free societies everywhere, and I will say
17:40our non-radical Arab neighbors as well. In fact, they understand it better than most.
17:46On the question of two states, now we have a different point of view, obviously,
17:50because the purpose of a Palestinian state is to destroy the one and only Jewish state.
17:54They already had a state in Gaza, a de facto state, and it was used to try to
18:00destroy the one and only Jewish state. We believe there's a path to advance a broader peace with
18:08the Arab states and a path also to establish a workable peace with our Palestinian neighbors.
18:15But we're not going to create a state that will be committed to our destruction
18:20at our doorstep. And as you know, Israel is gigantic. It's 50 kilometers wide,
18:2770 kilometers wide at its widest point. And we are obviously going to take care of our security.
18:35The one thing that we will always insist upon is that the sovereign power of security,
18:41from the Jordan River, which is right here, to the Mediterranean Sea, which is right there,
18:47that will always remain in Israel's hands. And that means that Israel will control its destiny
18:54and continue to protect its security for our sake and for others as well.
19:00I have to say, Friedrich, I think we're at the cusp of a new age because I think that we will achieve
19:10the expansion of peace. I think that we are at a new age because I think that the possibilities of
19:16technology with their risks, especially in AI, but with their positive benefits are enormous
19:27in every field, I mean, from agriculture to health to transportation to, and I think that we are
19:34together, we can lead this and become not a secondary power, but a primary power in the advance of
19:41humanity. I look forward to our discussions. And I have to say that your wife was supposed to come
19:49here. Bring her next time. It'll be an opportune moment to expand on these things. So welcome. Welcome,
19:57Friedrich. Welcome, Friedrich.
19:59Thank you so much. Thank you.
20:00Prime Minister, following up your words and what the Chancellor has just said,
20:10he asked you not to take any steps which could lead to annexation of parts of the West Bank.
20:16So my question for you would be, can you guarantee that you are not taking these steps?
20:22One could have some doubts after what you just said about security for Israel.
20:27In fact, there is no change of the status quo. Israel today controls the security between the
20:46Jordan River and the sea. If you're not aware of it, you should be, because that is the situation.
20:53That's why you don't have terrorism exploding from Judea-Samaria, from the Palestinian areas.
21:00In fact, we brought it down considerably because we are the power that is ultimately charged with
21:06overall security. So that's what we're doing. And I said that principle in the foreseeable future will
21:10stay. It has nothing to do with the question of political annexation. That remains a subject of
21:16discussion. But as you know, we have been able to forge peace treaties with that issue that was
21:26always raised. You're never going to expand peace because you're not, because the, you know,
21:31you're always going to have to go around or through the acceptance of the PA.
21:36If the PA doesn't agree, you're not going to have any Arab country come. That's what I was told
21:42before we signed the Abraham Accords with four Arab states. And in fact, the way we got it is we
21:48went around the PA because the PA is not interested in peace with Israel. They're interested in a peace
21:54without Israel. They don't want a Palestinian state next to Israel. They want a Palestinian state
21:58instead of Israel. So I think that they've, everybody says, well, they'll change. Well,
22:05we'll see if they'll change. I doubt it. I mean, the Trump plan has many stages that they have to go
22:11through. But I think that for most Israelis, we want peaceful relations with our Palestinian neighbors.
22:17They have to stop educating their children for the murder of Israel. They have to stop paying for
22:24slay. They pay the more Palestinians, the more they kill Jews, the more they get paid.
22:31And they have to stop naming their public squares against mass killers. We're in the compound of
22:37the Israeli government. It's not named after killers. It's not named after people who committed
22:43mass murder. There has to be a change. And I can tell you that most Israelis now, if you ask them,
22:51okay, would you want a Palestinian state? Okay, we asked that question in the Knesset.
22:56There are 120 members in the Knesset. And the question was, suppose they try to force us on us,
23:01a Palestinian state. Do you know what the vote was? It was 99 to 11, 10 abstentions.
23:09That includes the broadest spectrum of Israeli politics that you can imagine.
23:14After October 7th, people say, you know, what will be different?
23:21You had a de facto Palestinian state in Gaza. What did they use it for? So people ask this question,
23:27and I don't – I don't shirk from it. I tell you what it is. But you asked about concrete plans.
23:33That is not something that I think we're headed in the coming time. Well, it will be a question
23:43that will be raised eventually, but not right away.
23:46I can maybe direct to the last sentence.
23:52No one knows what the next days, weeks, months and months will bring and result.
23:59The important thing is now that with Gaza and this region in the second phase will be taken.
24:09And the important thing is that the whole thing is the entwaffling of Hamas.
24:12My impression is that the palästinensische Autonomiebehörde today ready is, Reformen to ermöglichen.
24:26That are but now only clear. That are not true.
24:31That's why I have also spoken with President Abbas yesterday morning and said to Israel,
24:37that I have to travel to Israel. I have also made my position to Israel clear.
24:41And now it is about, step by step, this Fried plan to implement.
24:49And what is at its end of the end of the day, we are today from us no one.
24:53And because that is so, has also the Bundesregierung,
24:56anders as the other European states,
24:59from the early recognition of a palästinensis state of the state,
25:04we will not do that in the future.
25:07Because of this state, in Anführungsstrichen,
25:11we have to do all the requirements to be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to be.
25:15Another thing, but this UN and I have said to be able to be able to be able to begin to be able to be able to be able to be able to be an Losotimitz,
25:18As we pledge the snapchat down to be able to be able to be able to be with people,
25:32do not do it until today, then the Palestinians must decide on the way they want to go.
25:38Therefore, from today's perspective, it is too early to meet a final decision about it.
25:43It is a hope that maybe it will be fulfilled, maybe not.
26:02The framework to end the war in Gaza allowed Hamas 72 hours to release all the hostages alive and dead.
26:09We are now almost 72 days past this deadline.
26:12How much longer are you going to allow Hamas?
26:15Is there a deadline to move forward to the second phase that includes disarming Hamas?
26:19And perhaps more importantly, how are you going to settle the differences with the Trump administration
26:24regarding the timeline of disarming Hamas?
26:27Because we know that Israeli officials have been talking about no more than a few months,
26:31while Americans have been talking about a much more flexible timeline that can stretch up to a year.
26:37And a question to the Chancellor, please.
26:39Given the terrible history of Germany and the Jewish people,
26:43can you make a commitment that at least during your tenure
26:46we will not see any more arms embargo by Germany against the Jewish state?
26:54There is one more hostage left. We had 255 hostages, most of them alive, by the way.
27:00We got them out, and the deceased sausages. One left, Rani Gwili, just a hero.
27:06I mean, he fought against these murderers, killed 12 of them,
27:12and was down to the last bullet and he died.
27:15And he was killed and his body was taken to Gaza,
27:19and we're committed to getting him back. I'm talking to his family all the time.
27:23They're amazing people.
27:25You know, we'll get them out.
27:29We're close to the second phase.
27:31And I think that you asked pertinent questions about what will be the timeline,
27:39what are the forces that are coming in, will we have the international forces?
27:44If not, what are the alternatives?
27:46These are all topics that are being discussed.
27:49But I haven't seen yet a clear delineation of the – what you say is the American position,
27:56which is contrary to our position.
27:58In fact, that's exactly what I'm going to talk to President Trump about.
28:01In the meantime, as I said, while humanitarian aid is there – it's flowing, it's not a problem –
28:08there isn't a problem that is there, and that is Hamas violations, including yesterday.
28:13They try to cross into our lines. They try to attack our soldiers.
28:18Obviously, we respond and respond forcefully.
28:21So I think, simultaneous with the advance to the second stage,
28:26I think it's important to make sure that Hamas complies not only with the ceasefire,
28:32but also with their commitment, which they undertook to disarm and have Gaza demilitarized.
28:39That's not something that is not part of something that they committed to.
28:43They committed to it.
28:44And so I think we'll be – we'll be having very important conversations in – at the end of the month
28:53on how to assure that this second stage is achieved.
28:56We're about to finish the first stage. We're almost – we're there, almost.
29:00But we have to make sure that we achieve the same results in the second stage,
29:05and that's something I look forward to discussing with President Trump.
29:10The decision, which I am 8. August 2025, was the specific circumstances of these days and weeks.
29:22The circumstances have changed and that's why this decision is not going forward.
29:28This is also from the government, also from me personally, öffentlich made it.
29:33And trotz dieser Entscheidung, die auf einen besonderen Sachverhalt ausgerichtet war,
29:39hat sich vorher und nachher an unserer sehr grundsätzlichen Haltung zu Israel
29:45und zur Sicherheit Israels, zur Unterstützung Israels,
29:49auch zur militärischen Unterstützung Israels nichts geändert.
29:52Und ich gehe davon aus, dass das nicht nur während meiner Amtszeit so bleibt,
29:56dass dies jeden Bundeskanzler der Bundesrepublik Deutschland angesichts unserer Geschichte
30:01auch in den nächsten Jahrzehnten weiter binden wird.
30:05Daran wird sich nach meinem festen Willen niemals etwas ändern.
30:12Thank you. Michael Fischer, German Press Agency.
30:16Herr Bundeskanzler, das ist ja Ihr Antrittsbesuch in Israel als Regierungschef.
30:21Sollte ihn Antrittsbesuchen ist es ja eigentlich üblich, den Gastgeber zu einem Gegenbesuch einzuladen.
30:27Haben Sie Ministerpräsident Netanyahu nach Deutschland eingeladen,
30:30obwohl es einen internationalen Haftbefehl gegen ihn gibt?
30:34Sie haben ja mehrfach gesagt, dass ein israelischer Ministerpräsident
30:38immer die Möglichkeit haben muss, Deutschland zu besuchen.
30:41And Prime Minister, how important is it for you to get an invitation to Germany
30:47as your most important European ally?
30:50And a quick question to both of you.
30:53If a peacekeeping troop would be deployed to Gaza,
30:58should Germany be ready to take part?
31:03Herr Fischer, wir haben über die Frage einer möglichen Reise von
31:06Premier Minister Netanyahu nach Deutschland nicht gesprochen.
31:09Dafür gibt es im Augenblick auch keine Veranlassung darüber zu sprechen.
31:12Wenn es die Zeit erlaubt, dann würde ich gegebenenfalls eine solche Einladung aussprechen.
31:18Aber das ist zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt für uns beide kein Thema.
31:22Why will Herr Fischer?
31:26Well, of course I'd be delighted to visit Germany again and speak there with the Chancellor,
31:34bring our government together, G2G, I think that's important.
31:37The reason we're not going there is because there's an ICC prosecutor
31:41.
31:42Prosecutor issued arrest warrants from me and for our former Defense Minister.
31:47He was supposed to come here, and he was saying how important that visit would be.
31:52be, because Israel has an open system, you know, one that can be, that just works according
32:01to the rule of law, saying very positive things. And on the day that he was supposed to come
32:09here, he canceled abruptly. And we didn't know. Why did he do it? Well, it turned out,
32:17when we discovered this a few months later, that a few days before, one of his staff members
32:24came in and said, there's another staff member, a woman, and you sexually harassed her for a
32:31long time, and she's complaining. By the way, she's very hostile to Israel, very hostile,
32:36okay? But he ruined her life. And apparently, Karim Khan sat and said, I'm ruined. His brother
32:45was a Conservative Member of Parliament in Britain, was jailed for pedophilia, okay? So, and he
32:55saw what happened to a rising career of his brother and the sentence to jail. So he said,
33:00I'm ruined. Well, he thought very quickly, and he came to the solution that relates to what
33:07I discussed before. All you have to do is bash Israel. And if you can bash Bibi, that helps
33:12too. So that's exactly what he did. He canceled his trip and came up with these trumped-up charges
33:18of starvation and genocide and so on, all these things that can be literally disproven. But
33:24he was going to investigate them, and he didn't. He came out and immediately went in the tube
33:30because he wanted to deflect, you know, deflect these charges from him. And which he did because
33:39they eventually came out, by the way, from other women too. So this is a corrupt prosecutor that is
33:45destroying the reputation of the ICC and causing many, many people to say, is this the organization that was
33:54supposed to follow the Holocaust? This was the organization that was set up to make sure that
34:00nothing like this ever happened. What happened to the Jews never happens again. And then when Israel
34:04is fighting for its life against people who are cutting off our heads, literally, it accuses Israel.
34:13And basically that's what it does. It accuses Israel. Our soldiers, our brave soldiers who are fighting,
34:19many of them losing their lives going into booby-trapped buildings in order to save lives.
34:26So I think that this is outrageous. The ICC has a lot of corrections to do about itself.
34:35And one of them is obviously to get rid of these ridiculous charges. But until it does, there is
34:44a question that arises in well-meaning countries and well-meaning governments of how
34:49subordinate they are, their judiciaries are, to this – these absurd charges. And I recognize that.
34:58But I guess that since we're overcoming so many things and doing the impossible,
35:03this is in the realm of the possible and probably sooner than you think.
35:07Can you skip you two or so? Sorry, one last question.
35:11Anna, I'm asking you on the newspaper. Mr. Chancellor, does Germany oppose the European
35:18Commission's proposal to suspend parts of the trade and cooperation agreement with Israel? Thank you very much, sir.
35:24Yeah. Vielleicht kann ich in dem Zusammenhang gleich die zweite Frage von Herrn Fischer noch mitbeantworten.
35:29Wir sind bereits engagiert in der zivil-militärischen Zusammenarbeit. Wir wollen jetzt, so haben wir es verabredet,
35:37ach, wir hatten das Ergebnis der Gespräche, das Ministerpräsident Netanyahu mit dem amerikanischen Präsidenten
35:43in diesem Jahr führen wird. Und ich habe unsere grundsätzliche Bereitschaft natürlich erklärt,
35:49an vielen Dingen teilzunehmen, die auch einen Wiederaufbau von Gaza ermöglichen. Wir wollen das Gespräch darüber fortsetzen,
35:56sobald klar ist, zu welchem Einsatz auch die amerikanische Regierung bereit ist. Denn Phase 2 muss jetzt kommen
36:03und dann muss Phase 3 ebenfalls in den Blick genommen werden. Welchen Beitrag wir dazu leisten können,
36:08würden wir auch danach entscheiden. Wir haben nach meinem gegenwärtigen Kenntnisstand eine Entscheidung
36:16über Sanktionen gegen Israel oder andere nicht auf der Tagesordnung des Europäischen Rates. Ich habe das
36:24in Deutschland deutlich gemacht und mache das auch hier deutlich. Wir haben kein Interesse daran, die
36:30Zusammenarbeit mit der Wirtschaft oder die Zusammenarbeit mit der Wissenschaft in Israel zu beschädigen. Im
36:37Gegenteil, wir sind daran interessiert, diese Zusammenarbeit zu vertiefen und zu intensivieren. Und deswegen gehe ich davon aus,
36:43dass es keinen zusätzlichen Entscheidungsbedarf auf der europäischen Ebene dazu gibt.
36:47Und das letzte Sache, was ich sage, dass sie sehr zerstört mit meinem Zukunft sind,
37:04future. They want to make sure that I'll – how shall I say this? They're concerned
37:11with my future. Well, so are the voters, and they'll decide, obviously, but we have big
37:16tasks to do, including with Germany, in historic cooperation that will actually – actually
37:24will in many ways tower over our previous cooperation, which was quite amazing. But
37:32that's not surprising because, as you can see, Chancellor Mertz is a towering figure.
37:37Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
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