Majority of Germans Back Partial Arms Export Freeze to Israel
(MENAFN) Nearly two-thirds of Germans approve Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s choice to impose a partial suspension on arms shipments to Israel, according to a YouGov survey released on Wednesday.
The poll revealed that approximately 65% of Germans support this decision, while only 19% of eligible voters disapprove, and 16% remain undecided.
On August 8, Merz announced the freeze, citing Israel’s move to capture Gaza City, and declared that no military equipment that could be utilized in the Gaza conflict would be authorized for export for the time being.
Despite facing criticism from members of his own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), Merz emphasized that Germany would continue to assist Israel in its self-defense efforts but could not supply arms to a conflict potentially resulting in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths.
The survey showed that Merz’s decision garnered stronger than average support from voters of the opposition Greens and the Left Party, as well as those from the co-governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the CDU/CSU coalition in the February elections.
However, the partial halt in deliveries was less popular among supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Historically, Germany has been a firm ally of Israel, with its political leaders frequently highlighting the country’s moral obligation to Israel due to its Nazi history and the Holocaust of Jews during World War II.
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