Germany’s Likely Next Chancellor Friedrich Merz Invites Netanyahu to Berlin, Shuns ICC ‘Arrest Warrant’
Germany’s likely next Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Monday invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on an official visit to the country, rejecting a sham arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The invitation comes a day after Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) won Sunday’s general election by getting the most share of votes, ahead of the main rival Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
“I told [Netanyahu] that we should see each other soon after the government is formed,” Merz said Monday. “In the event that he plans to visit Germany, I have committed myself to find a way to ensure that he can visit Germany and leave again without being arrested,” he assured, rejecting the kangaroo court’s warrant.
Merz’s comments are in sharp contrast to the stance taken by the outgoing Social Democrat-led government. In May 2024, Chancellor Olaf “Scholz spokesman indicate[d] Germany would arrest Netanyahu,” the Germany newspaper BILD reported.
Merz, then leader of the opposition in the parliament, slammed Chancellor Scholz’s government for submitting to the dictates of the Hague-based ‘international’ court. “The silence of the German government, right up to the suggestion by the government spokesman that Netanyahu could be arrested on German soil, is now really becoming a scandal,” he reacted.
In May 2024, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan sought arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The self-appointed court in November 2024 issued those warrants for the two Israeli leaders for overseeing a military operation to liberate 24o Israeli hostages from the clutches of Gaza-based terror group Hamas after the October 7 massacre.
The U.S. and Israel do not recognize the jurisdiction of the Europe-based court, which in the past has organized witch hunts to prosecute American and Israeli servicemen. Germany is a signatory to the ‘Treaty of Rome’ that led to the creation of the court.
Germany state-owned DW TV reported Merz’s remarks Monday:
Conservative leader and election winner Friedrich Merz reportedly intends to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an official visit to Germany, despite the arrest warrant against the Israeli leader.Netanyahu’s office said that he had a “warm conversation” with Germany’s likely future chancellor on Sunday evening and congratulated him on his success, and that Merz handed Netanyahu an official invitation to Germany as an “in overt defiance of the scandalous International Criminal Court decision to label the Prime Minister a war criminal.”A spokesperson for Merz’s conservative CDU party confirmed to news agencies Reuters and DPA that the two had spoken by phone after the election. However, they declined to comment on the substance of the conversation.Two weeks ago, Merz told German-Jewish newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine that he would invite Netanyahu as soon as he wins the election.”Under my leadership, the Israeli prime minister will be able to travel to Germany unimpeded,” he said.
‘Chancellor-elect’ Merz apparently made those comments after a phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu following his election victory. The Times of Israel published an excerpt from the readout:
Netanyahu’s office said he had congratulated Merz and that the German election winner had invited the premier to visit.“Merz thanked the prime minister for his call and said he would invite him for an official visit to Germany, openly defying the ICC’s scandalous decision to label the prime minister as a war criminal,” said the Prime Minister’s Office.
Merz, a long-time rival of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, left politics in 2009 after losing the leadership battle to her. Only after Merkel retired from public office in 2018 did Merz return to active politics. During the 2025 election campaign, Merz promised to end the uncontrolled mass-migration which began under Merkel’s watch in 2015.
Merz is expected to form the country’s next government by forging a coalition with Social Democrats (SPD). His preferred junior partner, Free Democrats (FDP), failed to clear the 5 percent hurdle needed to get seats in the Bundestag. Merz’s CDU has ruled out a coalition government with the AfD, a move shunned by all mainstream parties under the concept of so-called Brandmauer, or firewall, against the ‘right-wing’ party.
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