The left‑wing faction in the German Bundestag is preparing to tighten its stance on Israel. According to a report in the Saturday edition of “Welt”, the next faction meeting will review a policy paper written by Vice‑Chair Nicole Gohlke and MP Lea Reisner, the faction’s spokesperson on international relations. The four‑page document, slated for discussion next week, is titled “No economic and scientific cooperation with Israel’s unlawful occupation policy in the West Bank” and aims to broaden the faction’s position on the contentious issue of Israeli settlement policy.
The paper calls for the termination of academic collaborations with Israeli universities and research institutions situated on occupied Palestinian land. It demands that such institutions be excluded from international research programmes, EU funding and bilateral scientific agreements. In addition, the measures catalogue contains further, previously unheard‑of demands. Among them is an “import ban on goods from Israeli settlements, and the exclusion of goods and raw materials originating from Israel’s illegal economic activities in the occupied Palestinian territories from the European single market”.
The German-Israeli Society (DIG), which supports stronger bilateral ties between Germany and Israel, has already condemned the draft. DIG president Volker Beck told “Welt”: “The authors are not concerned with international law or a fair solution for the conflict, but are merely seeking a rhetorically sharper way to delegitimize the State of Israel”. He went on to claim that the Left’s disregard for international law applies as well to Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara. “When it comes to sanctions against Morocco, the Left says nothing. The only plausible reason for this double standard-Israel being pursued for sanctions while Morocco is ignored-is anti‑Semitism”.
