BERLIN (EJP)—A German government official has denied Friday’s report in weekly magazine Der Spiegel according to which Chancellor Angela Merkel may end unconditional support for Israel due to frustration with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s policies.
The official told Reuters in response to the report that “the guidelines of German Middle East policy have not changed.”
Earlier, a senior Israeli official likewise denied the report on diplomatic tensions, saying it appeared to be an attempt to attack Merkel for her close ties with Netanyahu by members of the Social Democrats (SDP), a member of Merkel’s coalition government.
“Relations between Israel and Germany are, and will continue to be, close and good,” the official was quoted as saying.
The report in Der Spiegel quoted Rolf Mutzenich, SDP’s deputy floor leader in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, as saying, “the perception has been growing in the German government that Netanyahu is exploiting our friendship.”
Der Spiegel noted that Germany had supported a European Union resolution condemning Israeli settlements as “illegal under international law” despite Netanyahu’s “pleas” to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, also an SDP member.
“Israel’s current policies are not contributing to the country remaining Jewish and democratic,” the paper quoted Norbert Roettgen, a member of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and chair of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, as saying.