The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs filed an official complaint against the German ambassador to Israel, Stephan Seibert, after it came to a hearing in the Supreme Court last week regarding the cancellation of the reason for reasonableness – this is what the media in Germany are reporting this morning (Monday). This is a very unusual step in the usually friendly relations between the countries.
Germany is among the only European countries that have been managing “normal relations” with Israel in recent months, and has hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior ministers, despite international and European criticism that the current government is promoting the legal revolution.
Seibert, who served in previous governments under Angela Merkel for more than a decade as government spokesman, arrived in Israel last year as ambassador and has since demonstrated a large presence on social media. He updated his tens of thousands of followers on the social network X (formerly Twitter) on his progress in Hebrew studies, and last week he went up to Jerusalem to be present at the hearing that took place in the Supreme Court on the cancellation of the probable cause. “I think something important for Israeli democracy is happening here,” he said in a video published online, while sitting on the benches of the Supreme Court hall, “and we – the friends of Israel – are also looking at it with great interest.” “I wanted to see it myself,” he added.
The place to be this morning #Baget pic.twitter.com/x7oVMPgsPg
– Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) September 12, 2023
According to reports in the German media, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in recent days, through the Israeli Embassy in Berlin and Ambassador Ron Proschauer, to convey the complaint. According to reports, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen sought to clarify that this is “interference in the internal affairs” of the State of Israel. Even before that, right-wing Israeli organizations demanded that the Israeli Foreign Ministry “take action” against the ambassador following the tweet.
Avoided harsh criticism
So far, Germany has refrained from publicly harshly criticizing the legal revolution, and the heads of state have contented themselves with expressing “concern” about the unilateral advancement of the legislation, or “great concern”, in several statements. Germany did not prevent or postpone visits by senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu in March and Economy Minister Nir Barkat who met with his German counterpart Robert Habak last weekend in Berlin. The German Foreign Ministry, headed by Analana Barbuk, is considered more severe in its criticism of the current government, but this is rarely expressed publicly.
Seibert previously responded to the claims of Information Minister Galit Distel-Atbarian, according to which the protests against the legal revolution are supported by “Germany and Iran”. “It is disappointing that the minister chose to mention Germany – a friend and democratic partner of Israel – along with a totalitarian country like Iran,” he said in February of this year against the backdrop of Distel-Atbarian’s statements in the Israeli media.
Germany, along with other European countries and the US, also expressed strong opposition to a bill the government was considering, which would prohibit civil society organizations from receiving donations from abroad in a blanket manner. Following the opposition, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu scrapped the proposal.
Germany and Israel are expected to sign the Arrow 3 deal later this month, the largest defense deal in the history of the State of Israel, worth 3 billion euros, which will deploy the country’s ballistic missile defense system.
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