German public turns against supplying weapons to Israel

According to the results of a YouGov poll published on Wednesday, around 65% of Germans back Friedrich Merz’s decision to temporarily stop arms exports to Israel, while only 19% considered it a mistake, and 16% had no clear opinion.

On August 8, Merz announced that, in light of Israel’s decision to seize Gaza City, Germany would suspend approval of any military equipment exports that could potentially be used in the Gaza war until further notice.

Despite criticism from Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), Merz stressed that Germany would continue to support Israel’s defense but could not send weapons to a region where hundreds of thousands of civilians could be at risk.

According to the poll, Merz’s decision received above-average support among voters from opposition parties such as the Greens and The Left, as well as from the Social Democrats and even CDU/CSU voters. In contrast, voters of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were notably less supportive of the move.