{"id":25832,"date":"2025-06-05T18:30:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T15:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?p=25832"},"modified":"2025-06-05T16:26:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T13:26:13","slug":"german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s surprising about Merz\u2019s comments isn\u2019t just their content, but their tone and finality\u2014the kind of language previously reserved for anti-Israel circles on the far Left,\u201d wrote German journalist Philipp Piatov in a sharply critical op-ed in The Wall Street Journal about German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.<\/p>\n<p>The article was published in the prestigious American paper just ahead of Merz\u2019s upcoming visit to the United States. The uproar followed his unprecedented criticism of Israel, in which he claimed that the suffering inflicted on civilians had become so severe that \u201cit can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shock Among Germany\u2019s Jewish Community<\/strong><br \/>\nAccording to Piatov, the statement caused shock within Germany\u2019s Jewish community: \u201cWhat makes Mr. Merz\u2019s words stand out is not only what he said, but the tone and finality with which he said it\u2014a style of speech previously used only by anti-Israel activists on the extreme Left.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_25835\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25835\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-25835 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-32.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-32.webp 1000w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-32-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-32-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25835\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anti-Israel protest in Munich, Germany | Photo: Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBy casting doubt on the legitimacy of Israel\u2019s entire military campaign,\u201d the journalist continued, \u201cthe German Chancellor implicitly questioned whether dismantling Hamas was ever a justified objective. He offered no alternative for neutralizing a terrorist organization that carried out the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust\u2014a massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals, including Germans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Damaging Germany\u2019s Credibility in Fighting the Far Right&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\nThe article also addressed remarks by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who suggested a reassessment of arms exports to Israel: \u201cThis move not only undermines internal consensus in Germany, but also damages Germany\u2019s credibility in its fight against far-right extremism,\u201d Piatov concluded, referring to the implications of this policy shift for German-Israeli relations.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"de\">Mein Kommentar \u00fcber Israel-Wende von Kanzler Merz und Au\u00dfenminister Wadephul im <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WSJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WSJ<\/a>. Ihre Rhetorik untergr\u00e4bt alles, wof\u00fcr die CDU seit Jahrzehnten stand. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0Kxno9pSCp\">pic.twitter.com\/0Kxno9pSCp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Filipp Piatov (@fpiatov) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fpiatov\/status\/1930333534268362870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The German journalist concluded with bitter sarcasm: \u201cIf Germany\u2019s Chancellor fails to understand the nature of Israel\u2019s war against Hamas, he might consider asking the U.S. President why the Allies didn\u2019t suspend their assault on Nazi Germany in early 1945 for humanitarian reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is at the center of a political firestorm following controversial remarks about Israel: His statements have shocked Germany and drawn fierce criticism from the Jewish community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":25834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,77,2276,8,6,65],"tags":[6442,6443,6439,6440,5463,1477,6441,6438,6437],"class_list":["post-25832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-idf","category-people","category-politics","category-security","category-world","tag-antisemitism-in-europe","tag-arms-export-policy","tag-friedrich-merz","tag-german-chancellor","tag-germany-israel-relations","tag-hamas","tag-jewish-community-in-germany","tag-philipp-piatov","tag-the-wall-street-journal"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.7 (Yoast SEO v24.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit - REGA news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is at the center of a political firestorm following controversial remarks about Israel: His statements have shocked Germany and drawn fierce criticism from the Jewish community.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"REGA news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-05T15:30:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"472\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"By Shimon Levi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"By Shimon Levi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"By Shimon Levi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4d7bc34deb63b02173f4b03d0273ec11\"},\"headline\":\"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-05T15:30:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/\"},\"wordCount\":384,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"antisemitism in Europe\",\"arms export policy\",\"Friedrich Merz\",\"German Chancellor\",\"Germany-Israel relations\",\"Hamas\",\"Jewish community in Germany\",\"Philipp Piatov\",\"The Wall Street Journal\"],\"articleSection\":[\"CULTURE\",\"IDF\",\"PEOPLE\",\"POLITICS\",\"SECURITY\",\"WORLD\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/\",\"name\":\"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit - REGA news\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-05T15:30:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp\",\"width\":768,\"height\":472,\"caption\":\"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz | Photo: Shutterstock\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/\",\"name\":\"REGA news\",\"description\":\"Get used to hearing well\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"REGA news\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ega.news-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ega.news-logo.svg\",\"width\":228.4,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"REGA news\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4d7bc34deb63b02173f4b03d0273ec11\",\"name\":\"By Shimon Levi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e448cfbee5b3fe0ef2e7a8fe67b3675b6608f278de65b5d1f3ef6548fe104812?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e448cfbee5b3fe0ef2e7a8fe67b3675b6608f278de65b5d1f3ef6548fe104812?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"By Shimon Levi\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/author\/shimon-levi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit - REGA news","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit","og_description":"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is at the center of a political firestorm following controversial remarks about Israel: His statements have shocked Germany and drawn fierce criticism from the Jewish community.","og_url":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/","og_site_name":"REGA news","article_published_time":"2025-06-05T15:30:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":472,"url":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"By Shimon Levi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"By Shimon Levi","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/"},"author":{"name":"By Shimon Levi","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4d7bc34deb63b02173f4b03d0273ec11"},"headline":"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit","datePublished":"2025-06-05T15:30:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/"},"wordCount":384,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp","keywords":["antisemitism in Europe","arms export policy","Friedrich Merz","German Chancellor","Germany-Israel relations","Hamas","Jewish community in Germany","Philipp Piatov","The Wall Street Journal"],"articleSection":["CULTURE","IDF","PEOPLE","POLITICS","SECURITY","WORLD"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/","url":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/","name":"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit - REGA news","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp","datePublished":"2025-06-05T15:30:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-40.webp","width":768,"height":472,"caption":"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz | Photo: Shutterstock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/german-chancellor-faces-firestorm-ahead-of-u-s-visit\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"German Chancellor Faces Firestorm Ahead of U.S. Visit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/","name":"REGA news","description":"Get used to hearing well","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#organization","name":"REGA news","url":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ega.news-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ega.news-logo.svg","width":228.4,"height":96,"caption":"REGA news"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4d7bc34deb63b02173f4b03d0273ec11","name":"By Shimon Levi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e448cfbee5b3fe0ef2e7a8fe67b3675b6608f278de65b5d1f3ef6548fe104812?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e448cfbee5b3fe0ef2e7a8fe67b3675b6608f278de65b5d1f3ef6548fe104812?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"By Shimon Levi"},"url":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/author\/shimon-levi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25836,"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25832\/revisions\/25836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}