The Media Line: Merz Warns Against West Bank Annexation as Netanyahu Digs In on Palestinian Statehood

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Merz Warns Against West Bank Annexation as Netanyahu Digs In on Palestinian Statehood 

By Steven Ganot and Gabriel Colodro/The Media Line 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stood beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday, in a joint appearance designed to showcase the strength of German-Israeli ties. Instead, their public remarks laid bare sharp differences over the West Bank, Palestinian statehood, and the political future of Israel’s longest-serving leader in the tense weeks after the Gaza war ended under the 20-point plan advanced by President Donald Trump. 

Merz began on familiar ground, invoking Germany’s responsibility born from the Holocaust and recalling a somber visit earlier that day to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial. He said Germany’s bond with Israel “will never be taken for granted” and reaffirmed Berlin’s commitment to Israel’s security. Then he pivoted to the concern that has been growing in European capitals for months: Berlin cannot back any move in the West Bank that edges toward annexation. There should be “no formal, political or structural measures” in that direction, he said, stressing that respect for international law is expected from any democracy engaged in war. 

Netanyahu, for his part, chose to talk almost exclusively about security. He greeted Merz as “a friend,” but brushed aside any suggestion that Israel might reconsider its rejection of Palestinian statehood. A sovereign Palestinian entity, he argued, would become a platform for attacks on Israel, pointing to Gaza before the war as his case study. “The purpose of a Palestinian state is to destroy the one and only Jewish state,” he said. Israel, he added, would maintain full security control “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea,” a formulation he repeated in several variations. 

Both leaders referenced the Trump plan that halted the fighting in Gaza, but their tones diverged. Merz called the ceasefire the product of a “decisive message” from the American president and said that, despite the ruins of Gaza, “a permanent peace is possible” if the next steps are managed responsibly. He noted that German officers are already stationed at the coordination center in Kiryat Gat and that Berlin is prepared to help with humanitarian relief and future reconstruction once conditions on the ground allow. 

Netanyahu framed the same plan as an unfinished security mission. Israel, he said, is “close to the second phase” of the arrangement, focused on Hamas’s disarmament. He accused Hamas of breaking the ceasefire and promised that Israeli forces would continue to respond to any attack. Key questions about enforcement and timelines, he added, will be worked out with President Trump later this month. The first phase, in his view, will not end until the last hostage’s body is returned. 

The conversation shifted when Merz was pressed about the European Commission’s talk of potential measures against Israel. He moved carefully, saying Germany has “no interest” in curbing cooperation and wants to deepen scientific and economic ties with Israel. He also rejected unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, arguing that the Palestinian Authority has yet to demonstrate the political or administrative capacity required for such a move. 

The most confrontational exchange came over the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Netanyahu’s legal exposure. Asked whether any legal arrangement might push him out of political life, the prime minister lashed out at ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, calling the accusations “trumped up charges” and hinting at personal motives behind them. When journalists pressed again on whether he might ever step aside, he gave a tight, defiant answer. “They are concerned with my future. Well, so are the voters, and they will decide.” The line carried a clear message: whatever happens at The Hague or in any domestic amnesty talks, Netanyahu intends to let only the electorate determine his fate. 

For all the strain, the appearance ended with both leaders trying to cast the moment as an opening. Merz spoke of a chance to build a more durable regional order after years of war and diplomatic gridlock. Netanyahu pointed to new areas of cooperation in defense and technology that he said would anchor the relationship for decades. Yet neither offered predictions about how the next phase will unfold, leaving viewers with a sense that German-Israeli ties—and the broader question of how to handle the West Bank and Gaza after the Trump plan—are entering a far more uncertain chapter.