Hartmut Bühl – European News Journal, Paris
The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s unwavering determination to seize Gaza City by military force and push its population south have prompted several UN member states to add their names to the long list of countries that have already recognised a Palestinian state.
This brings the total number of UN members supporting the two-state solution to more than 80%. With France’s endorsement of this position, as announced by President Macron at the UN General Assembly in New York on 22 September 2025, along with the United Kingdom, four of the five members and nuclear powers of the UN Security Council have now officially recognised Palestine as a state (the United States remains opposed).
Understanding the German dilemma
The new signatories include Canada, the UK, and Australia, as well as EU countries such as, in addition to France, Portugal, Malta, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
My country, Germany, is not one of them. Nor has it followed the European Union’s attempts to influence Netanyahu’s policy by imposing sanctions on Israel.
It is indeed a dilemma for Germany: on the one hand, the security of Israel has always been considered as “Staatsräson” (reason of state) for the Federal Republic of Germany due to German history, on the other, the respect of human dignity, which Israel is clearly violating in Gaza, is the highest ethical priority in the German constitution.
When Merz stopped arms exports to Israel
For this reason, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s decision in August 2025 to influence Netanyahu’s plan for the complete occupation of Gaza City by banning German arms exports to Israel was a strong and courageous sign.
Merz inevitably faced harsh criticism from Israel for his decision, but he was also accused internally of seeking to break with the course of German Israel policy.
Merz justified his decision in a statement, pointing out that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas’ attacks, and that Hamas must not play a role in the future. However, he added that Israel’s planned crackdown in the Gaza Strip was making it increasingly difficult to achieve these goals.
“Under these circumstances, the German government will not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice”, Merz said. The chancellor also warned against any further moves to annex the West Bank, which would further exacerbate the already tense situation.
Netanyahu, refusing a Palestinian state and still enjoying the support of US President Trump, wasn’t bothered by this in the slightest, and in mid-September, launched his offensive on Gaza City with the aim of destroying Hamas, which has so far forced more than half the population to flee. The Israeli Prime Minister put the lid on it all by revealing his plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Just a diplomatic victory?
The recent recognition of Palestine as a state by a growing number of countries is of course of certain diplomatic importance. However, it should be remembered that, although Palestine has been a non-member observer state of the UN since 2012, its recognition as a full member state would require the approval of the UN Security Council and two-thirds of the member states of the General Assembly.
This move has always been vetoed by the Unites States and will be also in the future unless Trump comes up with something new on his course for the Nobel prize.
