Berlin is “supporting Nazism” by considering the recognition of a Palestinian state in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Thursday.
“80 years since the Holocaust, and Germany is once again supporting Nazism,” Ben-Gvir tweeted hours before German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was set to arrive in Israel on Thursday afternoon.
In a statement issued shortly before he took off for Tel Aviv, Wadephul had said that talks toward establishing a Palestinian state must 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,” said the diplomat. “For Germany, the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of that process. But such a process must begin now.
“Germany will not deviate from this goal,” the statement declared, adding that Berlin “will be forced to react to any unilateral steps.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Wadephul’s remarks when asked by JNS.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar was scheduled to meet his German counterpart in Jerusalem around 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sa’ar’s office said, while noting that no statements would be made to the press.
Wadephul is also planning to meet with Palestinian Authority officials in the Samaria city of Ramallah.
In a statement issued on Thursday night, Sa’ar “strongly” condemned Ben-Gvir’s remarks, denouncing them as “unnecessary and harmful.
“Germany is a friendly country, and Foreign Minister Wadephul is a friend of Israel,” Sa’ar tweeted, adding: “This does not change, even when there are differences of opinion between us.”
Several Western countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, have in recent days announced their intentions to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
