At a time when the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has been going on for more than a month, and with the increasing scale of massacres against civilians, the corridors of the press and public opinion began to discuss the reasons for the support of Western countries, especially Germany, for Israel.
Turkish professor Kemal Inat, a faculty member at Turkey's Sakarya University, wrote an opinion piece published by Anadolu Agency about the continued disregard of both the United States and the European Union, especially Germany, Israeli massacres against Palestinians and other violations of international law.
U.S. and EU officials also continue to make statements in support of Israel even though they claim to have the highest standards of basic principles of international law and human rights protection and publish reports critical of other countries on these issues.
Anyone who remembers the policies of pro-Israel countries in similar massacres committed in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon is not actually surprised by the current positions, given the power and influence of the Israeli lobby on politicians, bureaucrats and media professionals in the Western world.
German model
Germany's policy toward Israel's massacres in Gaza for more than a month does not really deviate from the general line in the West.
Indeed, the leaders who run Germany's foreign policy known for its Holocaust past seem to be making a special effort to be at the forefront of supporting Israel and pushing the world toward forgetting the Holocaust, shouting at the top of their voices that "Israel has the right to defend itself."
This question is ignored in the West by repeating the same phrase "We fully support Israel's right to defend itself."
As the number of Gaza children killed by the Israeli aggression increased and the German public reacted further, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock timidly rejected the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, saying, "We do not want civilians to be harmed."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz timidly expressed his rejection of the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians (Reuters)
How can this (not harm civilians) be done without a ceasefire and without stopping Israeli attacks? To this question, the same phrase is repeated in the West: "We fully support Israel's right to defend itself."
In Gaza, Israel bombed the National Baptist Hospital, killing more than 500 people.
Chancellor Schultz, in turn, said on the X platform that "Israel has the right to defend itself, and every country has a duty to protect its citizens."
Well, aren't Gazans citizens? Who will protect them from Israeli attacks? Who will protect Palestinians in the West Bank from Israeli aggression, chaos and the usurpation of their homeland? Chancellor Schultz does not have answers to these questions, because he believes that now is the time to support Israel, and this is not the time to question the goals of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu.
Relentless efforts to exonerate Israel
For her part, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock showed an unparalleled performance to appear as the most ardent pro-Israel as if she was worried about the anger of Netanyahu and the Israel lobby, for not being able to prevent anti-Israel demonstrations in Berlin.
On the day of the attack by Hamas (on the settlements around Gaza on October 7), Baerbock expressed the German Foreign Ministry's position in support of Israel, saying that "Hamas is escalating violence, and I strongly condemn the terrorist attacks against Israel from Gaza."
"We are in full solidarity with Israel, and Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism in accordance with international law," she later said.
Three days later, on October 3, after hundreds of Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks, the German minister continued her pro-Israel stance: "Europe as a whole stands with Israel."
Regarding the deaths of civilians in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks, Baerbock said that "the suffering and death of Palestinian civilians is part of the strategy of terrorists," and then tried to exonerate the Israeli administration by saying "Hamas is hiding behind the civilian population."
On October 13, when the number of civilians in Gaza who died as a result of Israeli attacks became in the thousands, the German minister said that "Israel is living these days on the impact of barbaric terrorism, Israel has the right to defend itself against this terrorism within the framework of international law, Germany stands by Israel without hesitation," repeating its support for the Netanyahu government by saying, "That's why I will go to Israel today."
But what does the German foreign minister mean by saying that Israel has the right to defend itself "within the framework of international law"? Did she mean that if Israel violated international law while defending itself, we would withdraw our support? Without a doubt, no.
Despite Israel's continued bombardment of Gaza, in violation of all rules of international law and committing war crimes that are deplorable to humanity, Germany's support for Netanyahu's government continues to this day.
Germany did not even call for a ceasefire, adding a new page of shame to its history by abstaining from voting on the resolution calling for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza at the UN General Assembly.
However, if Israel could be forced into a humanitarian ceasefire, it would be possible for foreign nationals who had been bombed in Gaza to leave the Strip and return to their home countries, including also German citizens.
But Israel did not allow the evacuation of German citizens in Gaza for 3 weeks, so what was Germany's reaction to Israel, which kept its citizens captive in Gaza under bombardment for weeks? The response has always been "We fully support Israel's right to defend itself."
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has consistently expressed support for Israel (Getty Images)
4 reasons why Germany supports Israel
Arguably, there are 4 main reasons behind Germany's unconditional support for Israel: the burden of the Holocaust past, the Israeli lobby in the country, the influence of the United States, and the line of the current coalition government.
There is no doubt that the genocide committed against the Jews under Adolf Hitler has mortgaged German policy in favor of Israel to this day.
It should not be forgotten that there are people who do their best to ensure that this approach continues, and it is at this point that the Israel lobby comes into play, where the Holocaust is constantly covered on German television and newspapers, reminding Germans that although the crime in question was committed by their ancestors, current generations also bear the same amount of responsibility.
As a result, German politicians always describe Israel's protection as German "state policy," and they also believe that Germany should support Tel Aviv regardless of what the latter does in the Palestinian territories and the region, and remove faces from Palestinians who have fallen victim to this pathological thinking.