German civil servants demand ‘immediate’ end to Israeli arms supplies
Al Jazeera
Government workers call on Germany and the Netherlands to stop arms deliveries due to human rights concerns.
A group of German civil servants have written to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other senior ministers calling on the government to “cease arm deliveries to the Israeli government with immediate effect”.
“Israel is committing crimes in Gaza that are in clear contradiction to international law and thus to the Constitution, which we are bound to as federal civil servants and public employees”, the statement says, citing the International Court of Justice’s ruling in January that Israel’s military actions are “plausible acts of genocide”.
According to the organisers of the five-page statement, around 600 civil servants have voiced support for the initiative, which has slowly been gathering traction for months through professional networks and word-of-mouth across a range of ministries.
The statement also requested that the German government pressure Israel for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip; that it renew payments to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA); and that it “actively and resolutely advocates for the recognition of a Palestinian state” within the internationally recognised 1967 borders.
In 2023, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($354m), a tenfold increase compared to the previous year, providing 30 percent of the Israeli military’s weapons, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Researchers also found that 99 percent of Israel’s arms come from the United States and Germany, with the latter being the second-biggest supplier.
