When German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Yad Vashem, he not only bowed his head in memory of 6 million murdered Jews, he delivered a message to millions of living Jews—in Israel and across the Jewish Diaspora. Under Merz’s leadership, Germany is reiterating its commitment to confront antisemitism, support Israel’s right to self-defense, and reject policies that weaken Israel’s security. Germany’s unofficial arms embargo against the Jewish state during the height of the Israel-Hamas war has ended, and in a remarkable twist of history, Berlin has turned to Jerusalem with a multibillion-dollar purchase of the Iron Dome system. In the 21st century, the Jewish state’s cutting-edge technology will be safeguarding tens of millions of German lives.
Merz had another message: While ruling out a Palestinian state in “the foreseeable future,” he reiterated, “Our conviction is that the prospective establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel offers the best prospect for the future.”
For many observers, the German leader’s measured words hardly raised an eyebrow. After all, it was French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer who took the lead in endorsing and recognizing a Palestinian state in the midst of the brutal struggle against Hamas, and while the terrorists still held Israeli hostages—alive and dead.
In fact, before October 7, 2023, a two-state solution was openly pushed within Israel. That dream went from life support to DOA on the day when Palestinian terrorists sought out Israeli peacemakers living in kibbutzim adjacent to Gaza and executed them in their homes.
Israelis watched in horror as the connections between Hamas and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) unfolded, including video evidence of participation in the kidnapping of Israelis and a UNRWA teacher who held an Israeli hostage in his home. UNRWA facilities had terror tunnels and infrastructure under their buildings. It took years and billions to construct the massive underground city of terror, yet there is apparently no evidence that UNRWA teachers, employees, or their bosses ever reported the construction to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. More than 60 donor nations funded a war curriculum that inculcated generations of Palestinian children with genocidal hatred for their Jewish neighbors. The very word “Israel” never appeared on a map in a textbook. Lobbying by the Wiesenthal Center in world capitals from Tokyo to Berlin to at least independently review the education of millions they were underwriting was for naught.
Palestinian Authority corruption and Hamas terror
The broader issues still revolve around one question: Who are the Israelis supposed to negotiate with—the Palestinian Authority (PA)? That corrupt institution will not hold fair elections because Hamas would win and the PA would lose its global ATM of foreign aid. What officials do not pocket themselves largely goes to “pay-to-slay” salaries for Palestinian murderers and stipends for their families. These payments are not symbolic—they are a top-line, structured budget item. One hundred and sixty of the released terrorists exchanged for Israeli hostages left Israeli jails as millionaires. Hamas unleashes mass terror, and the PA rewards the murder and mayhem and financially incentivizes violence.
Beyond the cash, PA officials and PA-controlled media routinely glorify terrorism, portraying killers as national heroes. Textbooks promote antisemitic tropes and erase Jewish history from the region.
Reality for Israelis is that there is no public support to trust the current Palestinian leadership, whether in Ramallah, Gaza, or Doha. What is left of Hamas promises to spawn more October 7-style attacks until the Jewish state and the Jewish people’s destiny are obliterated.
If Germany wants to play a constructive role toward a peaceful future in the Holy Land, it should stop mouthing old platitudes written in the heady days of the Oslo Accords and start tying future support for Palestinian projects to full transparency and to people—including teachers, journalists, health care providers, and yes, politicians—who are openly pro-peace.
There is more. There are Palestinians who reject the hate, violence, and terrorism. Berlin should empower projects run by them, not by recycled Hamasniks who don three-piece suits.
Palestinian children must be taught that their Jewish neighbors are not interlopers, that the Jewish people’s connection to the land goes back 3,500 years, and that Judaism and Judaic values are worthy of respect, not blind hatred. This means that UNRWA must be put out of business, now and forever. If not, expect the endless cycle of violence never to end.
And yes, Germany should take the lead. Forget France. President Macron praised PA President Mahmoud Abbas—now in the 21st year of his four-year term—as a partner who “condemns terrorism,” not bankrolls it. If Europeans want to play any role in peacemaking, Israel will be looking to Berlin, not Paris, not London, not Brussels.
As for the two-state solution, the butchery of October 7 and the tsunami of global antisemitism it spawned mean that there will not be a Palestinian state in our lifetime.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper is associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and director of global social action. Daniel Schuster is the Simon Wiesenthal Center senior representative in Europe.