‘In Germany’s national interest’ (III)
Baerbock calls for German participation in a ‘protection force’ for Gaza. Bundeswehr praises ‘incredibly close’ German-Israeli military cooperation. IDF has helped turn the Bundeswehr into an intervention army.
BERLIN/TEL AVIV (own report) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock does not rule out the deployment of Bundeswehr soldiers as part of an international ‘protection force’ for the Gaza Strip. This move would see Germany engaging in a military intervention designed to oversee a ceasefire. Other politicians in the ruling ‘traffic light’ coalition generally agree but reject – at least for the time being – Bundeswehr involvement in combat operations. If the mission did materialise it would build on what is now a long tradition of German-Israeli military cooperation. This began at the end of the 1950s, when Israeli soldiers were trained on German weapons in the wake of the Suez Crisis. Military cooperation grew closer during the 1980s and became particularly strong in the 1990s. The idea was to leverage the extensive operational experience of the Israeli Defence Force for the desired transformation of the Bundeswehr into an effective global intervention force. German soldiers have undergone specialist training in Israel in areas such as ‘house-to-house combat and tunnel warfare’. The Bundeswehr itself describes cooperation with the IDF as “incredibly close”.
Meeting at general staff level
Experts in the field find that military cooperation between the German armed forces and Israel’s IDF began, alongside arms cooperation, with the training of Israeli soldiers in the use of German weapon systems. This military hardware was first delivered at the end of the 1950s, shortly after the end of the Suez Crisis (german-foreign-policy.com reported [1]). “Sporadic joint training courses with German mountain infantry” are documented in the 1980s. A study on German-Israeli armaments and military cooperation shows that “regular meetings at army general staff level” took place from 1998. There was also “an exchange programme for twenty officer candidates”, who then took part in “a three-week training course with the elite units.”[2] Information on military cooperation with Israel has often been kept confidential by successive German governments. The secretive nature of this military partnership is illustrated by the government’s reply to a formal parliamentary question from opposition MPs in the Bundestag: “it is classified”.[3] However, the government could confirm in 2014 that, from 1984, “up to 493 Israeli officers, officer candidates and other soldiers have taken part in Bundeswehr training programmes, courses and exercises”, while 254 German military personnel travelled to Israel for exercises and training.
Practical operational experience
The background to the intensification of military relations since the 1990s was illuminated in 2002 by former Lieutenant General Helmut Willmann, who served as Inspector of the Army from 1996 to 2001 and had been involved in institutionalising the Bundeswehr’s contacts with the Israeli armed forces since the end of the Cold War. Because the Bundeswehr was “in a state of upheaval” and plans were being forged to transform it “from a peacetime army to an operational army”, “we naturally sought contact with armies” that “already had more experience than us,” explained Willmann.[4] It was “clear,” he wrote, “that cooperation with the Israeli army would of course also benefit us professionally.” At the same time, Israel’s military attaché at his country’s embassy in Berlin, Reuven Benkler, reported that the IDF “shares almost continuously and directly with the German army every insight that we gain from the practical experience in our military deployment ... And we are an army with very rich experience.”[5] The Bundeswehr, he noted, “has a share in everything we develop.”
House-to-house combat and tunnel warfare
Since then, military cooperation has continuously expanded. In August 2014, the Bundeswehr Inspector, Lieutenant General Bruno Kasdorf, announced that up to 250 German soldiers would be sent to Israel to train in house-to-house combat and tunnel warfare.[6] A year later, after the training mission was apparently delayed, some details were given: the trip would now begin in October 2015 and take around 110 German soldiers to the Tse'elim Urban Warfare Training Centre. It was reportedly “no coincidence” that the centre had been “set up near the Gaza Strip”, where the Israeli armed forces “are required to have precisely these skills”. Germany’s army command was quoted as saying that it was very interested in the “specific operational experience of the Israeli armed forces.”[7] Since 2017, the German air force has been taking part in Blue Flag, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) exercise that is held every two years. Luftwaffe Inspector Ingo Gerhartz was quoted two years ago as saying that Israel was “the most important partner outside NATO” for the German Luftwaffe.[8] In October 2021, the military attaché at the German embassy in Tel Aviv, Colonel Jürgen Haffner, enthused that there was generally “an incredibly close interest on the part of the Bundeswehr in the Israeli military, and vice versa.” “The frequency of the visits we have – from high-level strategic dialogues to expert visits – is ... incredibly dense.”[9]
Participation in war
Such intensive military cooperation, alongside an extremely intensive political partnership, helps to explain the recent positioning of German politicians. At the beginning of August, CDU foreign policy expert and former Bundeswehr colonel Roderich Kiesewetter actually called for a Bundeswehr mission in Israel. At that conjuncture, Iran was expected to respond to the Israel’s murder of the head of the Hamas Politburo, Ismail Haniya, with a drone and missile attack on Israel. And the bombardment soon followed. Kiesewetter demanded that Berlin “offer military assistance for defence.” For instance, “refuelling fighter jets from friendly nations is conceivable, as is the deployment of the Bundeswehr’s own Eurofighters, for example to defend against Iranian drones.”[10] If “Israel’s security really is a raison d’état for Germany,” said the CDU politician, then “realpolitik must be pursued instead of repeatedly nurturing romantic hopes.” The German government should, therefore, “not wait until Israel asks for help,” but “offer assistance on its own initiative and argue the case now in the Bundestag.”
Bundeswehr to Gaza?
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has spoken in favour of Germany’s armed forces participating in a future “protection force” designed to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Germany could do this, Baerbock explains, “as one of the closest friends that Israel can absolutely trust.”[11] Kiesewetter backs this idea, pointing out that the Bundeswehr already has a presence in the region as part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the NATO naval mission Operation Sea Guardian. Germany could, he says, “Ramp up the required mandates and, where necessary, adapted them to enable deployment options.”[12] Defence policy spokesperson for the Greens, Sara Nanni, states, “If there is an agreement that contributes to peace in the region, Germany must at least offer to play a role in a future peace order.” Joe Weingarten, SPD member of the Bundestag, has also expressed his consent, insisting that “one cannot refuse such a wish.”[13] Weingarten’s only reservation is that “a combat mission in Gaza is out of the question for German troops.”
[1] See also: ‘In Germany’s national interest’ (II).
[2] Otfried Nassauer, Christopher Steinmetz: Rüstungskooperation zwischen Deutschland und Israel. Berliner Informationszentrum für Transatlantische Sicherheit. Research Report 2003.1. Berlin, September 2003.
[3] Antwort der Bundesregierung auf die Kleine Anfrage der Abgeordneten Christine Buchholz, Jan van Aken, Annette Groth, weiterer Abgeordneter und der Fraktion Die Linke. Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 18/2787. Berlin, 09.10.2014.
[4], [5] Daniel Marwecki: Absolution? Israel und die deutsche Staatsräson. Göttingen 2024.
[6] Thorsten Jungholt: Bundeswehr soll in Israel den Tunnelkampf lernen. welt.de 10.08.2014.
[7] Thorsten Jungholt: Bundeswehr soll in Israel den Häuserkampf lernen. welt.de 30.08.2015.
[8] Stephan Jeglinski: Inspekteur der Luftwaffe mit Ernst-Cramer-Medaille ausgezeichnet. bundeswehr.de 24.05.2022.
[9] „Ich möchte mit keinem tauschen“. bundeswehr.de 21.10.2021.
[10] Matthias Gebauer, Marina Kormbaki: CDU fordert Beteiligung der Bundeswehr an Schutzkoalition für Israel. spiegel.de 04.08.2024.
[11] Mögliche Gaza-Schutztruppe: Baerbock hält Beteiligung deutscher Soldaten für denkbar. tagesspiegel.de 01.10.2024.
[12], [13] Daniel Mützel: „Baerbock hat recht“. t-online.de 01.10.2024.
