Opinion: Germans Expect Higher Moral Standards from Israel

In her first reaction to the Israeli attack on Lebanon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck the right chord with the German people when she said that Israel had to make sure not to destabilize Lebanon. One week later, the people and the chancellor were no longer on the same page about this issue.

According to a representative poll, three quarters of the German population believed the Israeli military offensive was inappropriate; only 12 percent approved of it, while the rest was unsure either way. The chancellor did urge the Israelis to use proportional force, but, at the same time, she asked Hezbollah to release the captured Israeli soldiers and stop the shelling of Israeli cities in order for Israel to put an end to its operations. Since it was clear from the outset that a terrorist organization like Hezbollah would ignore such a request, the German position amounted to giving the Israelis carte blanche for their military offensive.

Agony on both sides

There is a broad consensus among the German public that the shelling of Israeli cities is not acceptable. Germans are generally put off by Hezbollah fighters and their Iranian backers who want to wipe Israel off the map.

The occasional claim that Germans are only paying attention to the suffering of the Lebanese civilians while ignoring that of the Israelis is completely unwarranted. For years, every single terror attack in Israel has received widespread coverage in the German media -- often wider than thousands of victims in African wars. Nowadays, too, there are reports about the suffering on both sides.

Germans, on the other hand, expect higher moral standards from Israel than from a terrorist organization. That is not an unfair expectation, rather it is a sign of high esteem. When Israel fought for its survival during the Six Day War in 1967, Germans responded with an outpouring of sympathy for the Jewish state. But when Israel responds to terrorist attacks against civilians by causing ten times the casualties, Germans do not find that acceptable.

A missed opportunity

Politically aware Germans know very well that Lebanon was on the verge of liberating itself from the Syrian grasp. After all, it was Germany's chief prosecutor, Detlev Mehlis, who made a significant contribution to the process with his investigation into the murder of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Feb. 2005.

This is why many Germans are now bitter about the fact that the current war could destroy the democratization of Lebanon as well as the prospects for peace along Israel's northern border. And even those who do not analyze these things with great subtlety feel that Israel's reaction to the terrorist provocations may be ruining chances for peace.

The growing rejection of Israeli policies by the German public has manifested itself in the rising opposition to the German participation in a possible peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. Almost two thirds of polled Germans are against it. Under these circumstances, the German government could hardly send any soldiers, should an international mission be organized.

Nobody should be surprised if the German government gradually became impatient with Israel. Even in foreign policy, the country's mood cannot be totally ignored.