Germany will send more weapons to Israel soon, Scholz says

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will supply more weapons to Israel soon, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday, after a significant drop in deliveries this year prompted opposition accusations that Berlin deliberately delayed the exports.

"We have not decided not to supply weapons. We have supplied weapons and we will supply weapons," Scholz told parliament at an event to commemorate the victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, countering an accusation from opposition leader Friedrich Merz.

The government had made decisions "that also ensure that there will be further deliveries soon," the chancellor said.

Merz, leader of Germany’s conservative opposition, accused the government of delaying arms exports to Israel, including ammunition and tank spare parts.

"For weeks and months, the federal government has refused to grant export permits for ammunition and even spare parts for tanks," Merz said at the parliamentary session.

"We are aware of several specific cases where the government has withheld approval for equipment and material that Israel urgently needs to defend itself," Merz added.

Germany's approvals for arms exports to Israel dropped sharply this year, with only 14.5 million euros' worth granted from January to Aug. 21, according to data provided by the Economy Ministry in response to a parliamentary question.

In 2023, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022, data from the ministry, which approves export licences, showed.

Commenting on the fall in exports, the German government has said there is no arms export boycott on Israel, and export permits are issued case-by-case after careful review, taking into account international law, foreign policy and security considerations.

($1 = 0.9142 euros)

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Editing by William Maclean)