HIGHDIPLOMATIC
German FM Wadephul visits Israel — first diplomatic visit since war began — tours Beit Shemesh strike site
·Beit Shemesh / Jerusalem, Israel
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is in Israel — the first senior European diplomat to visit since the Iran war began February 28. Tours the Beit Shemesh residential missile strike site (9 killed on Day 2) with FM Sa'ar. Chancellor Merz separately calls Israeli West Bank construction plans 'a big mistake.'
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul arrived in Israel — the first diplomatic visit from a senior Western leader since the US-Israeli air campaign against Iran began on February 28. Wadephul and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar visited the site of the deadly Iranian missile attack in Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed in a residential area on March 1 (Day 2 of the war), and met with relatives of the victims. The visit signals continued German solidarity with Israel on its security situation while coming on the same day Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin called Israel's West Bank E1 settlement project 'a big mistake' and 'annexation moves' — a sign that European solidarity on security is not unconditional. Wadephul will emphasise the settlement concerns during his visit, according to Merz. The diplomatic visit by Germany — Israel's most important European ally and the country with the most morally charged relationship with Israeli security — is symbolically significant: it validates Israel's war aims even as European pressure on settlements and civilian casualties mounts.
Sources