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"Israel is doing the dirty work for all of us", fierce controversy in Berlin over Chancellor Merz's statement

2025-06-20 18:00:45Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA BAHRI CANI
Friedrich Merz and Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in 2024

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that "Israel is doing the dirty work" for all of us in Iran. This statement has caused widespread reactions in Berlin.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sparked controversy with his statement that "Israel is doing the dirty work for all of us in Iran." "This phrase has caused irritation in the SPD parliamentary group," foreign policy expert Adis Ahmetovic told the ZDFheute.de portal.

Strong opposition also came from the Greens, the Left Party and Sahra Wagenknecht's alliance. While the chancellor sees his views as justified by the reactions.

"This statement was overwhelmingly approved," Merz said in Berlin. There were only a few critical voices that he declined to comment on. Merz's critics refer to a phrase in an interview with ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.

Moderator Diana Zimmermann actually used the word “dirty work” in her question, and Merz mentioned it: “Ms. Zimmermann, I am grateful to you for using the term “dirty work.” “This is the dirty work that Israel does for all of us. We are also affected by this regime. This regime of mullahs has brought death and destruction to the world,” Merz said. He expressed “the greatest respect” that the Israeli army and government “had the courage to do this.”

"Strange" statement

SPD politician Ahmetovi?, foreign policy spokesman for his parliamentary group, distanced himself from the chancellor's statement: "The main goal in this very sensitive situation is de-escalation. The chancellor's tone is not very helpful at this point," he said.

His SPD colleague, Ralf Stegner, told Der Spiegel: "When the chancellor says that Israel is doing our dirty work in Iran, that is more than strange."

"Ignorant comments"

The opposition was even more outspoken. The Greens’ rapporteur for the Middle East and Iran, Luise Amtsberg, criticized both the wording and the content of Merz’s statement. She said: “Instead of cynical and ignorant comments from the chancellor, I expect the federal government to do everything it can to de-escalate this tense situation.”

Green Party politician Anton Hofreiter told Welt TV: "I find the choice of words clumsy." In Iran, 80 to 90 percent of people are against the Islamist regime, but he added that "civilians are also dying from Israeli attacks in Iran."

Pellmann: "A scandal"

The leader of the Left Party parliamentary group, Sören Pellmann, criticized even more harshly: "The fact that Chancellor Merz is now rejecting international law and embracing the destructive logic of 'the right of the strongest' is a scandal and massively damages Germany's reputation at the United Nations and beyond."

Merz's statements were a rejection of the rule of law and international norms. "Most of us probably still don't know where this could end," Pellmann told dpa.

AfD: "Lack of respect and damage"

The AfD called Merz's statement "disrespectful and damaging to Germany's reputation." "Active contribution to the war is not in the interest of Germany or Europe," said Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla.

"European politicians must protect their citizens from the negative effects of the conflict in the Middle East, such as migration movements or attacks, and contribute through diplomacy to establishing peace."

BSW: “Double standards”

BSW chairwoman Sahra Wagenknecht spoke out in an unprecedented statement. Merz “shamelessly legitimizes a war of aggression that violates international law, which has already claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians in Iran,” Wagenknecht said. This is a break with the tradition of foreign policy moderation.

Merz's statements also caused distrust in the German-Iranian community.

“Mr. Merz, you are not affected by this regime at all. First and foremost, those affected are the 80 million people in Iran who have lived under the deadly oppression of this regime for 46 years,” journalist Gilda Sahebi wrote on Instagram. She added that the Israeli government was not doing the “dirty work”; that was the work of the many people who were resisting those in power. “These people are now being bombed.”/ DW


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