Germany has chosen Israel over international law

Two events in Germany last month shed light on the country’s stance on international law and its own democracy.

On 20 July, the anniversary of a failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler, new German recruits were sworn in at the Bendlerblock, which housed army headquarters during the Nazi period and was simultaneously the centre of a resistance group led by Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, whose members were executed at the site after their failed coup.

In recent years, during speeches at the ceremonies for new recruits, top German government officials have praised democracy and emphasised the importance of the rule of law for world peace and freedom. Yet praising the rule of law and taking it seriously are not the same thing.

This year, recruits heard from German intellectual Navid Kermani, one of the few public figures permitted to appeal to the conscience of the country’s political elite at public events.

Far from taking a radical position, he said: “None other than the German chancellor has made a habit of downplaying international law and glossing over violations of it whenever it seems politically expedient… But the threat to wipe out an entire civilisation, or the declared attack on a country’s civilian infrastructure, are such blatant injustices that one need not be a lawyer or consult one’s own conscience to recognise them.”

That is undoubtedly true: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz does not appear to care one bit about international law, which the country has committed to upholding as a lesson learned from its Nazi past.

Even before taking office, he declared that he would find ways to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then already facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, to Germany - regardless of the obligation under international law to execute that warrant, should Netanyahu set foot on German soil.

This did not merely display a flagrant disregard for international law and its institutions. It revealed the chancellor’s readiness to dismantle the very foundations of democracy - the separation of powers - in order to welcome the butcher of the Palestinian people.

'Disastrous signal'

Kermani also hinted at the nexus of external and internal developments with regard to the Iran war: “When, of all people, a German chancellor - the only western leader to do so - defends the American president’s threat to wipe out an entire civilisation, it is devastating not only for our reputation… The trivialisation of international law from the highest levels also sends a disastrous signal for our democracy.

“For if the rule of law erodes in our foreign relations, it won’t be long before it is also discredited at home.”

On 24 July, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul joined this unworthy spectacle when asked in an interview on a local satirical show: “Does international law, as admirable as it is, also come up against the limits of realpolitik?”

The minister answered: “Yes, if you’re honest, yes. That’s true. But to be honest: that’s how legal systems work. Think about yourself when you’re driving - have you always followed the rules 100 percent of the time?... The law says that when you’re driving in a built-up area, you’re only allowed to go 50. Still, some people drive faster.”

Had he mentioned Palestine, even Kermani would likely have fallen victim to the guillotine of silencing

He continued: “And it’s the same with international law. It’s basically the same thing. You have to deal with it. Legal systems are there to provide guidance. But they’re never followed 100 percent to the letter.”

The minister was serious, without the slightest hint of satire.

Equating international law with everyday traffic rules is, of course, a shocking trivialisation and denigration of it - though, given Germany’s silence on the annihilation of more than 70,000 Palestinians by Germany’s Israeli ally in Gaza, this comes as no surprise.

What once was a significant achievement in the wake of Nazism is now, for the German chancellor and his foreign minister, nothing more than a commodity to be exploited for their own self-interest. International law has become a pawn in the hands of neoliberal western hubris.

In contrast, Kermani can see the situation clearly, and is firm in his stance against the US threat to send Iran “back to the Stone Ages where they belong”.

As he spoke this truth in the face of a US president who has openly mulled destroying a civilisation dating back millennia, and a German chancellor who has failed to take a stand against such horrors, observers noted the pained expression on the face of German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who was sitting behind Kermani and had presumably expected a somewhat different speech.

Shameful complicity

But despite Kermani’s bold move to hold up a mirror to the German government at this highly symbolic event, his analysis was wrong in two respects: Iran is not the litmus test for Germany’s international standing, nor do we need to fear a future de-democratisation at home. It is already well underway.

The litmus test for Germany’s international reputation was, and still is, its shameful complicity in several ongoing crises: the genocide in Palestine, the spate of settler terrorism in the occupied West Bank, and the Zionist garrison state’s “total war” on Lebanon.

Berlin’s backing for Israel in the current context has irrevocably ruined Germany’s international standing.

At the same time, as a result of Germany’s neoliberal restructuring, processes of de-democratisation have been ongoing for years.

The deliberate erosion of democracy has paved the way not only for the selective application of international law, but also for the restriction of fundamental rights within Germany itself.

The German population is firmly against their country’s participation in the extermination of the Palestinian people. In a recent poll, 73 percent said they had a negative view of Israel, while 80 percent have rejected further weapons exports to Israel. Despite this, German arms export licenses to Israel have surged, enabling the state to continue committing war crimes.

While the German government’s blatant disregard for the will of its own people already points to a process of de-democratisation, this is exacerbated by domestic restrictions on fundamental rights, including freedom of assembly, freedom of opinion and speech, and academic freedom, alongside violations of due process - all in the service of the Zionist slaughterers.

Silence is supposed to reign in Germany. People are not supposed to know what the state is enabling the Zionists to do in Palestine, nor that Israel’s ideology of white supremacy draws a deeper commitment from Berlin than international law.

Had he mentioned Palestine, even Kermani would likely have fallen victim to the guillotine of silencing.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.