Germany has become the first major arms supplier to ease export restrictions on Israel, saying that the ceasefire announced with Hamas removed the need to withhold weapons that could be used in Gaza.
Government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said that the truce, in place since October 10th, meant that the situation had “stabilised” in recent weeks.
Berlin would now “return to a case-by-case review process for arms exports”, Mr Kornelius told German press agency DPA.
The decision comes as Israel’s international allies push Binyamin Netanyahu to turn the cessation of hostilities with Hamas into a lasting ceasefire.
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German chancellor Friedrich Merz announced an export freeze on weapons that could be used in Gaza in August, after Israel said that it was preparing for an invasion of Gaza City, despite mounting international censure over civilian deaths and widespread starvation in the strip. The invasion was abandoned during ceasefire negotiations.
The partial embargo marked a historic break for Germany, a nation that has made unwavering solidarity with Israel a pillar of its identity in the decades since the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust.
Mr Merz faced a backlash from his ruling Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the CSU over the move, even as polling suggested that he had widespread public support. It also prompted a furious reaction from Mr Netanyahu, who accused the German leader of having “buckled under” pressure.
German officials sought to play down the restrictions as largely symbolic. But Israel relied on Germany for components including gearboxes made by the Bavarian company Renk that are used in Merkava tanks operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The vehicle has been the workhorse of Israel’s invasion of the besieged enclave.
[ Merz changes Germany’s stance towards Israel securityOpens in new window ]
Israel’s planned full-scale offensive to invade Gaza City would have depended heavily on armoured vehicles, including Merkavas. The IDF had already conceded in an unrelated court hearing that by July 2024 it had lost so many tanks that it was delaying training programmes.
When Israel called up reservists ahead of the now-abandoned invasion, two told the Financial Times that training hours had been cut to maintain the life cycle of the tanks still in rotation. Neither confirmed if this was related to the transmission or other parts of the tanks. Following the partial embargo, Renk threatened to shift some production to the US so that it could continue supplying Israel.
One person familiar with Renk’s business said that its sales of new gearboxes to Israel had remained relatively small, even after the invasion of Gaza. But the repair and supply of spare parts “grew dramatically”, the person said, adding that the embargo had hurt Israel, even if the exact extent was unclear.
Renk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
[ The militias fighting Israel’s shadow war from inside Gaza’s ‘Yellow Zone’Opens in new window ]
The Gaza City invasion was eventually cut short as mediators hammered out a fragile ceasefire that has held into its second month and led to the release of all living Israeli hostages and the bodies of all but a handful of those who died.
But within Israel, the embargo and the sense of international isolation it signalled prompted Mr Netanyahu to declare that the country needed to prepare for an era of self-reliance modelled on Sparta.
“If there is one lesson we have drawn from this war, it’s that we want to be in a situation where we are not restricted – that Israel defends itself with its own forces and with its own weapons,” he said in mid-September, later clarifying that his “remarks were on the attempt to restrict the import of parts, components, weapons or raw materials”. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
