Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had a choice to make: Either meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or two Israeli human rights groups. Gabriel chose the latter.
In Jerusalem, Gabriel had wanted to meet both Netanyahu and the two groups - Breaking the Silence and B’Tselem. But Netanyahu had warned he would not see Gabriel if he met them. Gabriel went ahead and met them anyway, after which Netanyahu cancelled the meeting with Gabriel.
It’s easy to see why Netanyahu cancelled the meeting. Breaking the Silence is a group of former soldiers that gathers anonymous testimony from within the military about abuses of Palestinians by the army. B’Tselem is a leading human rights watchdog that has repeatedly called on the international community to punish Israel for not ending its occupation. Netanyahu accuses these groups of trying to undermine the state, and the government has taken steps to try to stem their foreign sources of funding. Israel passed a law last year requiring them to declare if they receive more than 50 percent of their funding from foreign entities. The move unfairly targets human rights groups who predominantly receive donations from foreign states.
Gabriel had no hesitation meeting these two critical representatives of civil society. He said, “You never get the full picture of any state in the world if you just meet with figures in government ministries.”
Before the snub, Gabriel had said it would be a “remarkable event, to put it mildly” if Netanyahu went through with his threat. “Imagine if the Israeli prime minister... came to Germany and wanted to meet people critical of the government and we said that is not possible... that would be unthinkable.”
Netanyahu’s office said the exact same thing, but in reverse: “Imagine if foreign diplomats visiting the United States or Britain met with NGOs that call American or British soldiers war criminals. Leaders of those countries would surely not accept this.”
Netanyahu’s government seeks to silence groups that are critical of it or of Israeli policies. But if they have done nothing wrong, neither the Israeli army nor Netanyahu should have anything to hide. He should be able to deal with the NGOs’ claims and provide answers.
Netanyahu was in effect issuing an ultimatum: You either meet with us or with them. But an ultimatum is given only when you believe you can win. Gabriel did not give in to Netanyahu and pretty much made him eat his hat.
The row is unusual in that Israel and Germany generally have excellent diplomatic relations. But the spat does come amid rising tensions over Israel’s settlements policies in Palestine. In early February, the Knesset passed a law that retroactively legalized thousands of settlements on land in the occupied territories, providing compensation for the Palestinians whose land was being used but without providing them a means to reclaim it. Advocates for a two-state solution decry the law as a serious blow to any peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict. The current German administration supports a two-state solution and has said its trust in the Israeli government’s commitment to it has been fundamentally shaken.
Groups like B’Tselem and Break the Silence fulfill an important role. They are dedicated to helping the Israeli government and the world pay attention to these issues, even if the current Israeli government might prefer that they didn’t.
Netanyahu’s government may choose to ignore their findings. He may accuse them of being disloyal, undermining Israel’s reputation in the world or even abetting the opposition. But he cannot just dismiss what they report.
It would be better for Netanyahu to pay attention to what these groups are saying and deal with the real issues rather than snubbing the German foreign minister for being as concerned about Palestinian human rights as he himself should be.
