while Canada, Italy and Spain have stopped supplying the Jewish state, Germany continues despite pressure

The UN Human Rights Council on Friday demanded a halt to all arms sales to Israel. While many countries, such as Canada, have already stopped doing so, Germany, the second largest supplier behind the United States, opposed this resolution.

Canada did not wait for the draft resolution of an embargo on the sending of arms to Israel to stop its own deliveries. On March 19, just after adopting a non-binding motion in favor of an immediate “ceasefire” in the Canadian Parliament, and after a vote by MPs asking the government to “stop approval and transfer” arms to the Jewish state, Canada has confirmed “stop sending weapons to Israel”.

If the United States is by far the leading supplier of arms to Israel, Germany is in second place. Israel’s security was established as a matter of state by Angela Merkel during her speech to the Knesset in 2008, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state. However, the weapons supplied to Israel since the start of the conflict are increasingly debated.

Germany mainly sells defense equipment

In 2023, Germany authorized 326 million euros in military exports to Israel. This is ten times more than in 2022. Most of the authorizations were granted after the shock of the October 7 attack perpetrated by Hamas. At the time, Olaf Scholz assured that Israel’s arms requests would be given priority. However, the importance of these sales must be put into perspective. Germany is far behind the United States in arms sales to Israel and the bulk of these exports represent defense equipment. In 2023, actual arms sales represented less than a tenth of the total, or 20 million euros. Including 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons, 500,000 ammunition and machine guns.

As elsewhere, these deliveries are becoming more and more debated in Germany, as the conflict has become bogged down. The pressure comes from the new far-left party BSW, led by Sahra Wagenknecht, which is increasing its positions. She wants to put the issue on the Bundestag agenda next week. It does not deny Israel’s right to defend itself. But she criticizes support for the Netanyahu government. “The German reason of state – committing to the security of Israel – must also mean, in case of doubt, calling an out-of-control Israeli government to order”thus believes this muse of the German left.

Support under pressure nationally and internationally

The longer the conflict lasts, the more opinion evolves. Only 17% of Germans support the operation in Gaza today, compared to more than 50% this fall. The German government is therefore under pressure. As a result, arms deliveries to Israel have declined since the start of the year.

Pressure pressure is also happening internationally, and it’s something new. Nicaragua filed an emergency complaint in March before the International Court of Justice, the United Nations tribunal. Berlin is accused of supporting the genocide in Gaza, with its arms deliveries. The deliberations will take place next Monday and Tuesday. Legal experts do not expect the court to bar Germany from selling arms to Israel. But Berlin will find it difficult to completely ignore the international pressure surrounding this complaint.

Canada toughens its tone towards Israel

On March 19, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed “stop sending weapons to Israel”. Mélanie Joly also clarified that since the start of the conflict, Canada had only approved “permits for non-lethal goods”, for example “communication tools” according to the government. And still according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, since January 8, “no permit” for the delivery of weapons has been granted, “taking into account the rapid evolution of the situation on the ground.”

Obviously this decision to stop arms deliveries caused a reaction from the head of Israeli diplomacy, who judges the Canadian decision “unfortunate”and believes that it “undermines Israel’s right to defend itself.”

Canadian arms manufacturers awaiting information

The Canadian defense industry regretted in the press “the lack of information from the Canadian government”, because nothing was communicated to the weapons manufacturers. Neither in January, when Canada stopped validating export permits, nor in March when the decision was made official. And with the government yet to reveal the next steps following this decision, confusion still reigns for the industry. One organization wonders, for example, whether the cessation of arms deliveries to Israel will apply to all permits, or only to new ones.

We do not know the figures for the military contracts involved, but according to Radio-Canada, in 2022, Canada exported more than 14 million euros of military equipment to Israel and more than 17 million the previous year. Which means that Israel is one of the ten largest Canadian arms export destinations.