Thousands of people are currently trying to leave Israel because of the Hamas attack – including many Germans. But there is considerable criticism of the federal government. What’s behind it?
ZDF presenter Christian Sievers asked Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock three times on Tuesday evening: “Why doesn’t Germany use military machines to evacuate Germans from Israel?” However, the Green politician does not give a concrete answer. Instead, she tries to explain why the federal government wants to use scheduled flights to get German citizens out of the country terrorized by Hamas.
“Poland, Italy, Spain, Austria use military aircraft to fly out their compatriots – why doesn’t Germany do the same?” Sievers asks emphatically.
There had previously been criticism from the Union of the federal government’s crisis management in dealing with Germans stranded in Israel. CDU leader Friedrich Merz said that other states were “now providing appropriate assistance in repatriating their citizens.” The federal government “obviously does not consider this necessary”. CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt demanded that if a return flight with scheduled aircraft was not possible, the federal government must make government aircraft available for this purpose.
At the same time, the Bundeswehr expressed its willingness to take part in a German evacuation mission. “We are always ready to do what needs to be done,” said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) in Berlin on Wednesday. The organization of the evacuations is in the hands of the Foreign Office (AA).
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“Have prioritized”
Baerbock justified the traffic light coalition’s actions: “The countries you listed don’t have that many citizens of their own. We have over 100,000, and that’s why we prioritized,” she answered moderator Sievers to his question in the “heute journal” . “That’s the principle of terror: setting fire to so many construction sites that everything falls on top of each other,” said the Foreign Minister, referring to the brutal Hamas.
The federal government’s top priority from the start was the evacuation of 17 youth groups who were in Israel on Saturday during the attack. “Given the situation that we have to get many, many more people out, we cannot send a military machine, so we first took care of children and young people who were there without parents,” Baerbock said on ZDF. On Wednesday she declared in the Bundestag that all students had now left Israel.
Hamas attack on Israel
Around 900 people have been killed in Israel since Saturday in a large-scale terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on Israel. In addition, more than 2,900 people were injured. Hamas members also kidnapped around 150 people in the Gaza Strip, including Germans. Israel reacts with a counterattack on the Gaza Strip: So far, at least 760 people have died on the Palestinian side. You can read more about the background here.
However, some of the groups left without any help from the federal government. On Wednesday night, a group of students from Ettlingen (Karlsruhe district) returned safely to Germany. According to District Administrator Christoph Schnaudigel, the “return journey (…) was organized independently without hesitation immediately after the events in Israel.” We were always able to rely on the expertise of our local Israeli friends. 14 people flew on to Stuttgart via Antalya in Turkey.
In the previous days, a group of students had already left via Iceland. Ten vocational students and their two teachers from Kirchheim/Teck in Baden-Württemberg secured seats on a plane with the help of an Icelandic couple. They had previously met the couple in the bunker of their hotel. They received help from the Foreign Office with the necessary papers. Otherwise, the school principal criticized on Wednesday that they were relegated to commercial flights.
Many airlines have canceled flights due to safety concerns
Foreign Minister Baerbock once again emphasized on ZDF that the most efficient way for Germans in Israel is to book tickets directly through airlines instead of using Air Force planes to get people out of there.
