“I think it’s a really absurd idea that an Israeli prime minister can’t visit the Federal Republic of Germany. He will be able to visit Germany,” he added.
In an earlier statement, Netanyahu’s office said Merz had invited the Israeli prime minister “to make an official visit to Germany, in overt defiance of the scandalous International Criminal Court decision to label the Prime Minister a war criminal”.
Merz‘ Partei CDU bestätigte das Telefonat, äusserte sich aber nicht zu dem Inhalt. Gegen Netanjahu sowie gegen den damaligen israelischen Verteidigungsminister Joav Galant waren vergangenes Jahr wegen mutmasslicher Kriegsverbrechen im Gaza-Krieg internationale Haftbefehle erlassen worden.
Merz hatte der deutschen Zeitung «Jüdische Allgemeine» dazu vor knapp zwei Wochen gesagt: «Unter meiner Führung wird der israelische Ministerpräsident unbehelligt nach Deutschland reisen können. Ich werde Mittel und Wege finden, das zu ermöglichen.»
While the world‘s attention will be on the shock of a fifth of Germans supporting the far-right AfD, the Netanyahu government‘s focus will be on who they‘ll be doing business with: the center-right Christian Democrats
(February 20, 2025)
Several anti-democratic bills passed on preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday, February 19. First, a bill proposal to heavily tax donations by foreign countries to NGOs in Israel. According to the proposal, authored by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, donations to NGOs from a “foreign state entity” will be taxed at 80%, but the finance minister, with the approval of the Knesset Finance Committee, can award a tax exemption in “special circumstances.” In addition, the law says the court system will not hear cases filed by NGOs whose “main funding” is from foreign state entities and who do not receive Israeli state funding.
Also, the Knesset advanced a bill on Wednesday that bans Israeli citizens, authorities, and public bodies from “cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
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According to Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman, “The legislative assault in Israel continues. The laws passed yesterday in a preliminary vote sanction people who cooperate with the ICC and limit the ability of human rights groups to petition the Supreme Court. They are withholding access to the court for the most vulnerable groups and leaving it open just for supporters of the regime. Netanyahu’s government is waging war on civil society and wishes to silence anyone who exposes its crimes. We will not be quiet.”
The Israeli lawmaker said that „no one in the world wants the civilians in Gaza, everyone is pushing them into Israel, they know that these are scum and subhumans“.
Vaturi also called for the widescale destruction of Jenin, which is currently under a brutal Israeli military siege, with tanks being sent into the West Bank city and refugee camp on Monday.
The deputy speaker of the Israeli parliament has called for the separation of children from their mothers and the killing of adults in Gaza.
During an interview with Kol BaRama radio, Nissim Vaturi called Palestinians „scoundrels“ and „subhumans“, adding that this is a group of people that cannot be accepted.
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The deputy speaker, who belongs to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Likud party, also said that the occupied West Bank city of Jenin will soon turn into Gaza, saying that Palestinians released as part of the ceasefire deal should be put there „so that they can be eliminated later“.
„Erase Jenin. Don‘t start looking for the terrorists – if there‘s a terrorist in the house, take him down, tell the women and children to get out,“ he added. )
Anleger goutieren, dass es nach dem Wahlsonntag nun für eine Koalition der CDU/CSU mit der SPD reicht, nachdem es in der Vorwoche noch nach unklaren Mehrheiten oder gar einem nötigen Dreierbündnis ausgesehen hatte.
Vorläufiges Ergebnis der Bundestagswahl: Die Union gewinnt mit 28,52 Prozent. Ein Kanzler Merz wird aber einen Partner zum Regieren brauchen. Auf Platz zwei kommt die AfD – im Osten wird sie sogar stärkste Kraft. FDP und BSW scheitern an der Fünf-Prozent-Hürde.
Hochrechnung 00:31 Uhr