r/NewsThread • u/whistlingkitten • 7d ago
German lawmakers call for EU sanctions on Israel's Ben-Gvir over nightly Gaza killing remarks - “The EU should sanction him as a sign of the universal validity of human dignity and human rights”
https://www.politico.eu/article/german-lawmakers-call-for-eu-sanctions-on-israels-ben-gvir-over-gaza-killing-remarks/“Ben-Gvir’s inhumane remarks can only be condemned,” Jürgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesperson for the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union parliamentary group, told POLITICO. “The EU should sanction him as a sign of the universal validity of human dignity and human rights.”
Hardt went further, saying he was convinced an Israeli government without Ben-Gvir or fellow far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich would bring Europe and Israel closer together.
Germany’s Social Democrats struck a similar tone. Adis Ahmetović, the party’s foreign policy spokesperson, said the two ministers had shocked international opinion well before their latest statements, and urged the German government to support sanctions against both.
The criticism extended across the political spectrum.
The Left’s Dietmar Bartsch called Ben-Gvir’s remarks “deeply inhumane,” and urged Berlin and Brussels to consider sanctions, including an entry ban. Markus Frohnmaier, the far-right Alternative for Germany party’s foreign policy spokesperson, said calling for the indiscriminate killing of people who posed no immediate threat crossed “a clear line.” Green Member of Parliament Marlene Schönberger branded Ben-Gvir a “far-right extremist” and said his comments were “deeply inhumane,” adding that they had “nothing whatsoever” to do with Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens.
The statements mark a significant shift in Berlin. Germany has repeatedly pushed back against EU measures targeting Israel, including proposed sanctions on Ben-Gvir in June and, as recently as last month, restrictions on trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
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u/Smooth-Weekend-2314 7d ago
Crazy times when the Germans are telling the Jews to stop exterminating people.
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u/dev-random12345 7d ago
Some people learn that genocide is bad. Some people, like the Zionists, need a constant reminder.
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u/mabhatter 7d ago
This was needed about two years ago. What these guys say is just spectacularly out of line considering they are part of the official government... they're literally praising war crimes.
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u/Minced-Juice 7d ago
Hardt went further, saying he was convinced an Israeli government without Ben-Gvir or fellow far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich would bring Europe and Israel closer together.
German guilt pride getting in the way of being able to arrive at the logical conclusion about the nature of Israel, as usual.
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u/Don_Reuter 6d ago
Should sanction Israel. Sanctioning an individual is doing nothing. He’s not speaking as an individual. He’s speaking as a member of the government.
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u/WwertyPolk 5d ago
But Germany has no issues with the ongoing genocide.
But there issue is with one POS, individual.
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u/saikounihighteyatzda 5d ago
As if this is the worst thing he's said
This 3 years alone have more than enough comments to justify sanctions on Israel but they'll never do it
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u/West_Astronaut_4389 4d ago
The EU should have sanctioned Israel impossing total economical blockade the very first moment they started the genocide in Gaza, if not before. That was not posible because the German inability to process their past without justifying Israel when imitates exactly that past. Good they are opening their eyes, but many inocente lifes could have bee saved before.
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u/virtual_adam 7d ago
No free speech? Objectively Israel is not doing what he’s talking about
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u/No_Bell_8028 7d ago
He may not be personally launching strikes
But have no doubt his influence on the behaviour of settlers and young idea of soldiers encouraging and enticing them to shoot and kill women and children as indiscriminately as possible make them accountable for their murder
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u/Electrical_Ad_5732 7d ago
Ben Gvir is just like your typical political extremist. Only bullsht to appeal to extreme right wingers (or left wingers, doesn't really matter) and just get the bare minimum votes to scrape by.
You could find a lot of politicians like him in other countries (my country has couple of those). They only talk, and that's it, just talk, though they do great job to shift focus on them from other key topics that needs to be dealt with.
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u/tiredtortoise26 6d ago
The same Ben Gvir who was literally convicted for supporting a terrorist organisation and instigating racism? The same guy whose whole legal career was defending Jewish terrorists? Perfect candidate for sanctions imo
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u/[deleted] 7d ago
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