German Chancellor: No de facto annexation of West Bank Israel responds sharply

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing concern over developments in the Palestinian territories and warning against any de facto annexation of the West Bank.

“I am deeply concerned about developments in the Palestinian territories. In my phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu, I made it clear: There must be no de facto annexation of the West Bank,” the German leader wrote on X.

The remarks prompted a sharp response from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who issued a strongly worded statement rejecting Merz’s comments.

Smotrich said: “On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the German Chancellor should bow his head and apologise a thousand times on behalf of Germany.”

He also criticised European leaders, saying: “We will not accept instructions from hypocritical leaders in Europe.”

In another passage, he added: “A continent that is once again losing its conscience and its ability to distinguish between good and evil.”

Addressing Germany directly, Smotrich stated: “The days when Germans dictated to Jews where they were permitted or forbidden to live are over and shall not return.”

He further declared: “Our return to the Land of Israel—our biblical and historical homeland—is the answer to anyone who tried or tries to destroy us.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev