Germany's Merz meets Netanyahu under shadow of Israel's war on Gaza

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

56% : On his arrival in Israel on Saturday, Merz was met at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who called Merz "a friend of Israel".
54% : In August, Israel's actions in Gaza drove Germany - Israel's second-largest arms supplier after the US - to restrict sales of weapons for use in Gaza.
48% : Merz's visit - coming seven months since he assumed power - has come relatively late in his tenure as chancellor compared to his predecessors, with Olaf Scholz having visited Israel after three months and Angela Merkel after two.
47% : Merz told the news conference that Germany, one of Israel's most unwavering allies, wanted a new Middle East that recognised a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, and that negotiations on the creation of such a state must begin now.
47% : Not only had Germany resumed arms exports to Israel following a short-lived partial suspension, but it had recently signed a $4.5bn deal for an Israeli-made missile defence shield, reportedly the largest arms export agreement in Israeli history.
46% : During the visit, he said "Germany must stand up for the existence and security of Israel," after acknowledging his country's "enduring historical responsibility" for the mass extermination of Jews during World War II.
44% : Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh said the relationship between Germany and Israel remained "very strong", despite recent strains over Gaza.
38% : She said Israel had little tolerance for criticism from Germany, but understood that its occasional comments taking issue with its actions had little bearing on Berlin's policy response.
34% : Odeh said Germany's support had proven controversial at home and abroad, and had seen Germany being accused of complicity in genocide for its military support to Israel, before judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled against issuing emergency orders to stop German arms exports.
33% : At the time, Merz said - in a public criticism of Israel that was rare for a German leader - that his government could no longer ignore the worsening toll on civilians in the besieged and bombarded enclave.
33% : Merz addressed the matter on Saturday, saying that "the actions of the Israeli army in Gaza have posed some dilemmas for us [and] we have responded to them" adding that "Israel has the right to defend itself".
30% : The war on Gaza has tested the traditionally strong ties between Israel and Germany, for whom support for Israel is a core tenet of its foreign policy, built in during decades of historical guilt over the Third Reich's Holocaust.
27% : In the meantime, back in Germany, activists in the capital Berlin held a demonstration to condemn Israel's ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, to demand a halt to arms exports to Israel, and to express their support for Palestine.
26% : "The Israeli political system ... understands that even that criticism ... doesn't really amount to much in terms of policy," she said, describing Berlin as acting as "a brick wall at the European Union against any criticism, any action, any sanctions against Israel".
21% : Merz's trip is playing out under the shadow of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza - although Merz, leader of one of Israel's staunchest supporters, does not consider it a genocide.

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