A leading figure in the German Christian Social Union (CSU) has ruled out the possibility of Israel being subjected to sanctions over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
“Yes, criticism of the Israeli government is permissible, but there can be no sanctions between friends“, said CSU Secretary General Martin Huber in an interview with the publications of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media group, published today.
The CSU is the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – the parties jointly form the conservative CDU/CSU bloc at the national level. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is the leader of the CDU.
Huber's statement comes in the context of growing tension over possible sanctions against Israel. The reason for this was the European Commission's recommendation to temporarily exclude Israel from “Horizon Europe“ - the EU's flagship research program. The German government has so far maintained a cautious position, but has not ruled out the possibility of supporting such a measure.
Huber also rejected the idea of introducing entry bans for far-right Israeli politicians, as Britain and Canada already did in June.
“I cannot imagine imposing such bans on representatives of a democratically and legally elected government,“ said Huber. “Such a move would cause serious damage to German-Israeli relations.“