Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to visit Israel on 6th of December and meet, among others, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including the deliberate starvation of the civilian population and attacks on civilians.
Merz is putting Germany’s credibility on justice at risk.
Germany is an ICC member, and just this week assisted in the landmark transfer to the court of the first suspect sent to The Hague in the ICC’s ongoing investigation in Libya. The ICC relies on countries to carry out its warrants when suspects are on their territories.
The cooperation Germany has provided in the Libya case is just the kind of support international justice needs.
That’s particularly true now when the ICC is under threat. Russia has issued arrest warrants for court officials, and separately ICC prosecutors, judges – as well as human rights defenders advocating for justice - have been placed under punitive US financial sanctions, the latter precisely over the case against Netanyahu.
Merz would be the first German Chancellor to publicly meet with an ICC fugitive which would undermine this clear commitment to the court.
The ICC is the court of last resort for thousands of victims and their families who otherwise have no chance of justice anywhere. Without justice and legal accountability for atrocities—including those committed by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on October 7 and thereafter, as well as the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide Israeli authorities carried out in Gaza—the violations and injustice are likely to continue.
Beyond justice, ongoing repression of Palestinians despite the fragile Gaza ceasefire shows why Germany should maintain pressure on Israel. Over two years, Israeli forces have killed, starved and forcibly displaced tens of thousands of civilians, devastated Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, targeting hospitals, shelters, aid workers, and journalists. In the West Bank, forced displacement, excessive force, administrative detention, torture, expansion of illegal settlements and state-backed settler violence have surged—part of Israeli authorities’ ongoing crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.
Human Rights Watch has called for Netanyahu himself to be sanctioned, investigated and, as appropriate, prosecuted for these crimes.
There can be no business as usual with Netanyahu and any other individuals wanted by the ICC on charges of atrocities. Germany should instead press Israel to end its repression of Palestinians, halt weapons exports, impose targeted sanctions against Israeli officials implicated in ongoing grave abuses, suspend preferential trade agreements with Israel, ban trade with illegal settlements and commit to executing all ICC arrest warrants.
