Germany on Tuesday defended itself towards accusations that its arms gross sales to Israel had been abetting genocide in Gaza, arguing on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice that many of the gear it has provided since Oct. 7 was nonlethal and that it has additionally been one of many largest donors of humanitarian assist to the Palestinians.
The case on the U.N. courtroom in The Hague pits Germany, whose assist for Israel is taken into account an inviolable a part of the nation’s atonement for the Holocaust, towards Nicaragua, which introduced the allegations to the courtroom and is a longstanding supporter of the Palestinian trigger.
Debate over Israel’s battle with Hamas within the Gaza Strip has been muted in Germany, whose management calls assist for Israel a “Staatsräson,” a nationwide motive for existence, and the place individuals have traditionally been reluctant to query that assist publicly. However the mounting demise toll and humanitarian disaster in Gaza have led some German officers to ask whether or not that unwavering backing has gone too far.
Legal professionals for Germany mentioned Tuesday that the allegations introduced by Nicaragua had “no foundation in reality or legislation” and rested on an evaluation of navy conduct by Israel, which isn’t a celebration to the case. Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, an official at Germany’s Overseas Ministry and lead counsel within the case, instructed the 15-judge bench that Nicaragua had “rushed this case to courtroom on the premise of flimsiest proof.”
On Monday, Nicaragua argued that Germany was facilitating the fee of genocide towards Palestinians in Gaza by offering Israel with navy and monetary assist, and it requested for emergency measures ordering the German authorities to halt its assist. The courtroom is anticipated to resolve inside weeks whether or not to order emergency measures.
Some German information media mentioned it was absurd that Germany ought to need to reply to accusations from Nicaragua, whose authoritarian president, Daniel Ortega, has jailed critics or compelled them into exile, and has been accused in a United Nations report of crimes towards humanity.
“Ortega, of all individuals, now seems to need to marketing campaign internationally for the observance of human rights,” an opinion article within the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung mentioned.
Germany is Israel’s second-largest arms provider after america. In 2023, Berlin accepted arms exports to Israel valued at 326.5 million euros, or about $353.7 million, in line with figures revealed by the economics ministry. That’s roughly 10 occasions the sum accepted the earlier yr.
The case in The Hague coincides with rising concern in Berlin that unconditional assist for Israel has broken Germany’s different essential worldwide relationships, particularly as outrage on the civilian demise toll within the battle has grown around the globe.
Stefan Talmon, a professor of worldwide legislation on the College of Bonn, mentioned the case has offered a uncommon alternative for some Germans to debate their discomfort with the Israeli offensive, which Gazan well being authorities say has killed greater than 33,000 Palestinians.
The case “put the plight of the Palestinians extra within the sight of peculiar Germans,” he mentioned.
Sudha David-Whilp, a senior fellow on the German Marshall Fund in Berlin, mentioned, “There’s all the time this concern over how to not slide into antisemitism, however there shouldn’t be this ambiance the place we are able to’t have this debate in any respect.”
Germany and its allies, she mentioned, “see a have to defend different democracies like Israel however on the identical time need to ensure that their values are revered.”
Analysts say that the German authorities is slowly toughening its stance towards Israel in any case, not due to the courtroom case, however largely due to rising criticism of Israel’s conduct of the battle from its primary ally, america.
Overseas Minister Annalena Baerbock not too long ago mentioned that Germany would ship a delegation to Israel as a reminder of the responsibility to abide by worldwide humanitarian legislation even in battle.
For a rustic whose leaders have lengthy maintained that the nation’s previous crimes give it a particular responsibility to guard towards genocides, it has been notably jarring to be taken to courtroom and accused of complicity in a genocide.
The proceedings in The Hague, which concluded Tuesday, had been the third time this yr that the U.N. courtroom — normally a low-profile venue for disputes between nations — grew to become a discussion board for nations to place stress on Israel and assist Palestinians.
The courtroom heard arguments by South Africa in February that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and ordered the Israeli authorities to take steps to stop such atrocities. The courtroom has not dominated on whether or not genocide was in reality happening, an allegation that Israel has strongly denied, nevertheless it instructed Israel to take steps to stop it.
In a separate case, the courtroom heard arguments on the legality of Israel’s occupation of the West Financial institution, based mostly on a request made greater than a yr earlier by the U.N. Basic Meeting.
Authorized consultants have questioned whether or not the worldwide courtroom has jurisdiction within the case introduced by Nicaragua. Legal professionals for Germany argued on Tuesday that it doesn’t, and may throw the case out.
In addition they mentioned that Germany has tried to stability the pursuits of each Israel and the Palestinians, and offered figures exhibiting that Berlin was among the many largest particular person donors to the U.N. and different businesses that present humanitarian assist to Gaza.
“Germany has all the time been a powerful supporter of the rights of the Palestinian individuals,” Ms. von Uslar-Gleichen mentioned. “That is, alongside Israel’s safety, the second precept that has guided Germany’s response to the Center East battle on the whole, and to its present escalation particularly.”
Christian Tams, a lawyer for Germany, denied Nicaragua’s claims that Berlin had elevated weapons provides to Israel because the Oct. 7 Hamas assault. He argued that since then, Germany had accepted 4 export licenses for navy gear, with three of the licenses for coaching and testing matériel not appropriate for fight. The fourth license was for 3,000 transportable antitank weapons.
