Germany denies it has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel

Germany had denied reports on Wednesday that it had stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel.

According to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry, Germany put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges.

The Economy Ministry said on Thursday that there was no ban on arms exports to Israel and that there would not be one. Decisions were made case-by-case after careful review, and international law, foreign policy, and security policy were key factors in their assessments.

"There is no German arms export boycott against Israel," a spokesperson for government said on Wednesday, commenting on the report.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported a source close to the ministry cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law.

Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($363.5 million), including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022, according to data from the Economy Ministry, which approves export licences.

However, approvals have dropped this year, with only 14.5 million euros granted from January to 21 August, according to data from the Economy Ministry in response to a parliamentary question.

Of this, the weapons of war category accounted for only 32,449 euros.

In its defence of two cases, one before the International Court of Justice and one in Berlin brought by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, the government has said no weapons of war have been exported under any licence issued since 7 October, apart from spares for long-term contracts, the source added.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since 7 October. It has also displaced most of the population of 2.3 million, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court, which Israel denies.

No case challenging German arms exports to Israel has yet succeeded, including a case brought by Nicaragua at the ICJ.

Disagreement on arms exports in the German government

However, the issue has created friction within the government. The Chancellery maintains its support for Israel, while the Greens-led economy and foreign ministries, sensitive to party members' criticism, have increasingly criticised the Netanyahu administration.

Legal challenges across Europe have also led other allies of Israel to pause or suspend arms exports.

Britain this month suspended 30 out of 350 licences for arms exports to Israel due to concerns that Israel could be violating international humanitarian law.

In February, a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to halt all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns about their use in attacks on civilian targets in Gaza. President Joe Biden's administration this year paused - but then resumed - shipments of some bombs to Israel after US concerns about their use in densely populated Gaza.

Approvals and shipments of other types of weapons, in more precise systems, continued as US officials maintained that Israel needed the capacity to defend itself.

(Reuters)