How Germany bends international law to continue selling arms to Israel

In a recent speech in the Bundestag to mark the anniversary of 7 October 2023, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz denied that the country had decided to stop supplying arms to Israel.

The Federal Republic had made such exports and would continue to do so. However, as data published by the German government shows, there was a de facto ban on the export of weapons of war between March and August 2024.

The discrepancy between public positioning and actual practice reveals two things about German arms supply policy.

First, the German government itself assumes that Israel is breaking international humanitarian law in Gaza and has taken precautions to avoid legal liability.

Second, the debate on the legitimacy of arms exports in Germany is driven by domestic politics rather than by obligations under international law or considerations of conflict dynamics.

Read more: How Germany bends international law to continue selling arms to Israel