“I think that targeted killings should be carried out in Gaza,” said Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, on Monday, sparking worldwide outrage.
The hard-liner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Cabinet also described exactly what he had in mind: Every night, 30 or 40 Palestinians should be “removed.” Ben-Gvir emphasized that he was not only referring to militant Palestinians who posed an immediate threat, adding that there are people in the Gaza Strip who do not deserve to live.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz denounced the statement made by the controversial Israeli politician. “The chancellor strongly condemns Minister Ben-Gvir’s inhumane statements, which violate international law — they are unacceptable,” said a government spokesperson in Berlin. Merz is officially on vacation.
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The spokesperson also criticized Israel’s plans to further accelerate settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. Merz is following the latest developments “with great concern.”
The spokesperson said there must be no further steps toward annexation, adding: “As the occupying power, Israel must treat Palestinians with dignity, protect their property and ensure public administration and humanitarian aid.”
Vice Chancellor Klingbeil: ‘A line has truly been crossed’
Merz’s deputy from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, had already called for consequences on Tuesday.
“These are statements that we, as the federal government, cannot accept in any way,” he told the private TV station Sat1. Klingbeil said that sanctions are being discussed at the European level, adding: “This must now be looked at very seriously.” Despite all its solidarity with the state of Israel, Germany must not remain silent, he stressed. A line has now “truly been crossed.”
Hildegard Bentele, a German member of the European Parliament from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), also supports sanctions against Ben-Gvir, telling DW on Tuesday that she had been calling for them for a year.
“Eliminating individuals is unacceptable to us in Europe,” she emphasized.
Many countries have imposed entry bans on Ben-Gvir
Several countries have already imposed entry bans on Ben-Gvir, including Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands.
Jürgen Hardt, the foreign policy spokesperson for the conservative parliamentary group in Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, also supports the call for European Union sanctions against Ben-Gvir.
“The EU should sanction him as a statement on the universal validity of human dignity and human rights,” Hardt told the news magazine Politico. Hardt said he is convinced that an Israeli Cabinet without Ben-Gvir would bring Europe and Israel closer together again.
Calls for sanctions and a halt to arms exports to Israel
The environmentalist Green Party, an opposition party in the German parliament, has also demanded harsh consequences.
“I urge the federal government to impose an entry ban on this man and to advocate for similar sanctions to be imposed at the European level as well,” Green Party leader Franziska Brantner told Politico.
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This is not the first time Ben-Gvir has drawn attention for his appalling calls for violence against Palestinians, Brantner emphasized. She also called for Germany to follow the example of other countries and impose sanctions: “It’s time for Germany to join these nations.”
Lea Reisner, a politician from the socialist Left Party, went further on Deutschlandfunk public radio, calling for a halt to all German arms exports to Israel.
Josef Schuster: Ben-Gvir’s comments ‘deeply shameful and irresponsible’
Germany’s Central Council of Jews in Germany also reacted with horror to Ben-Gvir’s call for mass killings of Palestinians. The president of the Central Council, Josef Schuster, told the Catholic News Agency that Ben-Gvir’s statements were diametrically opposed to Jewish values and damage Israel’s reputation.
“Itamar Ben-Gvir’s behavior is deeply shameful and irresponsible,” said Schuster, adding that it illustrates the danger posed by far-right forces.
Kirsten Fehrs, chair of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany, described Ben-Gvir’s statements on the social media platform Threads as an “attack on humanity.” The bishop stressed that there must be a shared conviction across religions that every human being possesses inalienable dignity because they are made in God’s image.
“No one can bestow this dignity, and no one can take it away,” she said.
This article was originally written in German.
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