Approval only from SPD
The FDP and the Union view the Israel resolution with skepticism
December 24, 2023, 3:16 a.m
The UN resolution against Israel’s harsh actions in Gaza only met with a positive response in Germany from the SPD. The FDP criticizes the United Nations’ “indifferent attitude” towards Jerusalem; the Union even sees a reversal of perpetrator and victim.
The SPD has welcomed the UN Security Council resolution on the war between Israel and Hamas. “The most important organ of the United Nations rightly emphasizes the urgency of bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza,” said the foreign policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Nils Schmid, to the “Tagesspiegel”. A ceasefire is also “still necessary” to free all hostages. “We support any effort in this direction,” he said.
The FDP reacted less enthusiastically. It is positive that the United Nations Security Council is making decisions again, said the foreign policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Ulrich Lechte, to the newspaper. It is also “inevitable to ensure supplies for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.” It is logical to use additional border crossings for this purpose. Nevertheless, it is understandable that Israel wants to check all flows of goods. Lechte criticized the United Nations. “The USA and Germany are Israel’s closest allies, and the UN’s indifferent attitude towards the only democracy in the region does not change that,” he said.
The Union became even tougher. CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter told the paper that the terrorist organization Hamas was “making it impossible” to deliver aid. This is not taken into account in the UN resolution; responsibility is “one-sidedly attributed to Israel.” Kiesewetter criticized: “But this is wrong and borders on perpetrator-victim reversal.”
Baerbock sees Arab states as having a duty
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the “Tagesspiegel” that it was “central” to Israel’s security that “the prospect of lasting peace is not lost” in the fight against terror. “Hundreds of thousands of children, women and older people live in hell in Gaza. They have nothing to eat and are sitting in a field of rubble – without anything in the beginning of winter,” said Baerbock. Their conversations all revolved around the conflict coming to an end. Baerbock again called for a two-state solution. “Israel can only live in security if Palestinians live in security. Likewise, the Palestinians can only live in security if Israel lives in security,” she emphasized to the newspaper.
At the same time, she demanded that the terrorist organization Hamas “lay down its weapons and release all hostages so that Israel is no longer forced to defend itself.” It should no longer be accepted that “a terrorist organization hides behind hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians and children and sets up its terrorist cells in hospitals.” The abuse of civilians as a “human shield” must be stopped.
Baerbock directed her demand for a “sustainable ceasefire” primarily to the “neighbouring Arab countries”. A “joint effort with Arab countries against Hamas terror” is needed to end the “terrible suffering – especially of the Palestinians in Gaza.”