Politics Israel's Foreign Ministry raises accusations against German ambassador
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has reacted sharply to an X-Post by German Ambassador Steffen Seibert. "Ambassador Seibert finds it difficult to condemn attacks on Israelis without mentioning the Palestinians," Saar wrote on the X platform.
23.03.2026, 11:47
SDA
"Good to know that a new ambassador is coming soon - one who will strengthen Israeli-German relations." The Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Seibert of lacking empathy for Israel.
Criticism of settler violence goes down badly
In his X-Post on Sunday evening, Seibert spoke of a day of mourning and outrage following the death of an Israeli by Hezbollah fire and hundreds of injuries caused by Iranian rockets. At the same time, he wrote about settler violence against Palestinian villagers in the West Bank. A settler had previously been killed.
Saar accused Seibert of being "obsessed with the Jews living in Judea and Samaria" because of his criticism of settler violence, which prevented him from condemning the death of a Jew at the hands of Palestinians. The Israeli government refers to the areas in the West Bank as Judea and Samaria.
Ambassador: We stand with Israel
In a reaction to Saar's X-Post, Ambassador Seibert emphasized that Germany stands by Israel's side in the current war against Iran. It has publicly condemned the Iranian attacks on Israeli civilians and the "criminal use of cluster bombs", the diplomat wrote in his reply to X. "The settler violence is of great concern to us, as it is to the Israeli president and other leaders," he added.
Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there today amidst three million Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Since the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the violence of extremist settlers against Palestinians has increased significantly.
