Has Angela Merkel Weakened Her Security Pledge To Israel?

Germany cancels ship deal with Israel to safeguard its energy supplies in the Mediterranean, Merkel's decision may be linked to failed peace talks.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
06/05/2014 05:39

A little over three months ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Israel that Germany works “shoulder to shoulder” with the Jewish state and seeks “to secure the future of the State of Israel.” Just last month, however, her government pulled the plug on a vital ship deal with Israel to safeguard its energy supplies in the Mediterranean.

Is Merkel retreating from her commitment to ironclad security for Israel? The broken deal sparked intense political finger-pointing between Israeli and German officials. From Israel’s point of view, Germany reneged on its assurance to deliver a discounted price for the ships.

The Federal Republic denied it had planned to contribute funding for the sale.

The seeds of Merkel’s decision appear to have been planted in the failed Israel-Palestinian peace talks, when she meted out discipline to the Netanyahu administration but did not penalize Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for the dissolution of negotiations.

According to a May report in Defense News, a German diplomat said, “But surely the political issue has clouded the bilateral relation and some things are not progressing as smoothly as they should” – the “political issue” being the peace talks.

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