Enlarge image
Germany has also exported anti-tank weapons to Israel, among other things
Photo: DPA/ K. Schneider/ Bundeswehr
The federal government also approved arms exports to Israel in the first few weeks of this year - but only on a small scale.
Deliveries for around nine million euros were permitted until February 15, as the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced at the request of MP Sevim Dağdelen from the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW).
According to the information, these included war weapons worth a good 32,000 euros.
Last year, the federal government gave the green light for arms exports worth 326.5 million euros to Israel - ten times as much as in 2022. This included war weapons worth 20.1 million euros, including 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns, Submachine guns or other fully or semi-automatic firearms.
Most of it was approved after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.
After the attack on Israel, Chancellor Olaf Scholz repeatedly reiterated that Israel's security was part of Germany's reasons of state.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is responsible for arms exports, said in November that as a result of the terrorist attacks, "applications for the export of military equipment to Israel would be processed and approved as a priority."
Israel's warfare in the Gaza Strip has been criticized internationally because of the high number of civilian deaths.
The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell recently called on the USA and other allies of Israel to reduce their arms deliveries.
However, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz rejected the demand.
Dağdelen criticized German arms exports to Israel.
"There needs to be an immediate and unconditional ceasefire instead of supplying more and more weapons to the partly right-wing extremist Netanyahu government, which now also wants to attack Rafah," she said.
svs/dpa