Berlin does not believe the requirements for recognizing a Palestinian state have been met and will not join the initiative to do so at the United Nations in September, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday.
“The position of the federal government is clear, as far as the possible recognition of the state of Palestine is concerned,” Merz reiterated at a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“Canada knows this. We will not join this initiative. We don’t see the requirements met,” the German leader continued, according to Reuters.
On Friday, a government spokesperson declared that Germany had no immediate plans to recognize a Palestinian state, calling such a move at this stage “counterproductive.”
“A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today,” the spokesperson told a press briefing. “Recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process. Right now, it would undermine efforts toward peace.”
Berlin’s statement stands in sharp contrast to the positions of capitals such as Paris, London, Canberra and Ottawa, where governments have signaled willingness to recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly annual general debate in September.
On July 31, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused Germany of “supporting Nazism” by considering the recognition of a Palestinian state in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
“80 years since the Holocaust and Germany is once again supporting Nazism,” Ben-Gvir tweeted ahead of Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s arrival in Israel.
Before his trip, Wadephul reiterated Germany’s position that talks toward establishing a Palestinian state should begin immediately.
“A negotiated two-state solution remains the only path that can offer people on both sides a life in peace, security and dignity,” he said. “For Germany, the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of that process. But such a process must begin now.”
