Germany 'considering stopping unconditional support for Israel' in frustration at settlement expansions

The German government is reconsidering its support for Israel due to growing frustrations over the country's construction of settlements in occupied territories, it has been reported.

Advisors to Chancellor Angela Merkel were furious about an article published in Israel following a meeting in Berlin in February between the German leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to German magazine Der Spiegel.

The article, which appeared in pro-Netanyahu newspaper Israel Hayom, had the headline “Merkel: Now is not the time for 2-state solution”, which the advisors felt had twisted the Chancellor’s words to suggest she agreed with Mr Netanyahu’s policies.

Instead, advisors said Mrs Merkel had actually reiterated her belief that a “peaceful coexistence” was “ultimately built on a two-state solution”.

The Chancellor has always maintained the building of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is counterproductive to establishing a peaceful and lasting two-state solution in the region.

And senior government officials in Germany are now said to be less inclined to continue the country's unconditional support of Israel, according to Der Spiegel.

They are increasingly concerned Mr Netanyahu is exploiting Germany’s friendship with Israel for his own political gains and are becoming sceptical of the relationship, the magazine said.

A German government official sought to dismiss the report, saying: “The guidelines of German Middle East policy have not changed.”

An Israeli official also responded to the claims, telling Israel Hayom: “The relationship between Israel and Germany is strong and good, and remains that way.

“It seems that these comments are an internal German effort to take a swipe at Merkel's close relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu."

Norbert Roerrgen, a member of Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and chair of the Bundestag’s (parliament's) Foreign Affairs Committee, told Der Spiegel: “Israel's current policies are not contributing to the country remaining Jewish and democratic. We must express this concern more clearly to Israel.”

Meanwhile, a member of the Socialist Democrats - the CDU’s junior coalition partner – Rolf Muetzenich, told the publication: “The perception has been growing in the German government that Netanyahu is instrumentalising our friendship.”

In the past Mrs Merkel has spoken about “a special obligation to support Israel”. The European country has felt duty bound to support the Middle Eastern state due to Nazi Germany’s murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust during Second World War.