Germany condemns Israeli settlement plans as threat to peace, calls far-right minister’s comments ‘unacceptable

BERLIN, August 19 — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz strongly condemned remarks made by Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir. According to a government spokesman, the chancellor finds the inhumane appeals made by Minister Ben Gvir to be unacceptable. The comments, which suggest Israel should kill 30 to 40 people every night in Gaza, have sparked widespread criticism in Germany, a country that has traditionally been one of Israel's most steadfast allies.

Lars Klingbeil, Germany's vice chancellor and finance minister, expressed on television that Ben Gvir's statements must have consequences and that sanctions are being considered at the European level. In addition to condemning the minister's comments, Germany also voiced its disapproval of Israeli plans for settlement expansion in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.

This expansion, according to the German government, jeopardizes the prospects for a two-state solution. Chancellor Merz emphasized that there should be no further steps toward annexation in the West Bank, be they formal or political, structural, or other measures that increasingly and obviously lead toward annexation. These actions, the spokesman Sebastian Hille stated, run counter to the goal of a two-state solution.