German arms exports: Churches question license

At more than €12 billion ($12.6 billion), licenses for German arms exports reached a new high in 2023. This was mainly due to arms exports to NATO and EU partners, as well as Ukraine. Not only that, arms were also exported to countries that had not been supplied in the past. Both major churches have, therefore, criticized Germany's policy on arms exports.

The German government has "moved away from its declared goal of a strict policy on arms exports," explained Max Mutschler from the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC) in Berlin this week. Together with representatives of the Protestant and Catholic Churches, Mutschler presented the latest arms export report of the Joint Conference Church and Development (GKKE).

The arms export policy of the now collapsed center-left coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Greens, and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) did not score well with the GKKE. The main reason for this is the group of states that received arms.

If a German arms company wants to sell weapons abroad, it must obtain approval from the German government. According to arms expert Mutschler, the government approved exports to "highly problematic countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar" in the first nine months of 2024. He said that these exports need to stop.

"Arms exports to these dictatorships contribute to the internal repression of the populations of these countries and fuel the arms race in the entire region — with negative consequences for Israel's security," the report said.

Germany: 'Important arms partner for Israel'

The committee also took a close look at German arms exports to Israel, noting "ambivalence in its own position." In 2023, arms deliveries to Israel had risen sharply to €326.5 million. This was around 10 times more than in 2022 and included 3,000 handheld anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for small arms. Many of the licenses were granted after the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

"Germany is an important arms partner for Israel, especially for ships and submarines that strengthen Israel's defense capabilities," explained Prelate Karl Jüsten, the Catholic chairman of the GKKE. The committee emphasized "Germany's special responsibility for Israel's security and its right to self-defense."

But Israel must also comply with international humanitarian law. It stipulates that civilian targets may not be attacked. Jüsten warned that the German government must not approve arms exports to Israel if there is any suspicion that German weapons will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.

"Arms such as tank ammunition must not be exported to Israel if the Israeli government does not give a significantly higher priority to the safety of the civilian population in Gaza."

German arms deliveries to Israel have been the subject of several national and international court cases. Nicaragua accused Germany of aiding and abetting genocide in Gaza through its arms deliveries to Israel and filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague. At the end of April, the judges rejected the urgent request for an immediate halt to German arms exports to Israel.

Several requests before German courts to stop the approval of German arms exports to Israel have also failed. On December 16, 2024, the Administrative Court in Frankfurt rejected the expedited request of a Palestinian from Gaza.

According to the court, German foreign trade law — the legal basis for export licenses — offers "no protection for foreigners abroad." The plaintiff, therefore, had no standing to challenge the arms exports.

The court also argued that it was not apparent that the German government had "carelessly and arbitrarily" approved the export. On the contrary, it had obtained assurances from Israel that "the delivered armaments would be used in accordance with international law."

Policy reversal for exports to Turkey

The GKKE is also critical of the increase in arms deliveries to Turkey. This year, the German government has approved more than €230 million worth of arms exports to Turkey, more than at any time since 2006.

Since Turkish troops entered Syria in 2016, the German government has largely taken a cautious approach to orders from Turkey. The government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz has deviated from this course, as evidenced by the export of German-made torpedoes and missiles, among other things. During his visit to Istanbul in October, Scholz said it was "self-evident" that the NATO partner Turkey would receive German weapons.

Mutschler argued that weapons should not be supplied to NATO partners if they are used for acts of war or the violation of human rights. Turkey's operations on the border with Syria and northern Iraq are "attacks that violate international law, especially in the Kurdish regions," including against civilian targets. "This is why we are also very critical of these arms exports," he said.

There are two further points on which the GKKE bases its negative assessment of Germany's record on arms exports: the government has neither passed the arms export control law it promised nor made any effort to ensure transparent and timely reporting on the exports approved. In this respect, it even scored lower than the previous government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel. In fact, the cabinet only approved the report on arms exports for 2023 on Wednesday — much too late, in the churches' view.

This article was originally written in German.

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