BERLIN

Germany's conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz pledged Thursday to remove all restrictions on arms exports to Israel if his party returns to power.

In a speech at the Koerber Foundation in Berlin, Merz laid out his Christian Democrats' (CDU/CSU) foreign policy vision, highlighting Germany's commitment to Israel's security.

“A government led by me will strengthen our relations with Israel. I will immediately end the de facto export embargo of the current government,” he said, referring to restrictions imposed by Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition.

“In the future, whatever Israel needs to exercise its right to self-defense will be given to Israel. Israel’s security is part of Germany’s reason of state, and this will again be measured by actions, not just words,” he said, adding that Germany will firmly stand by Israel.

Merz currently leads in polls for Germany's next chancellor ahead of the Feb. 23 elections, with his Christian Democratic bloc holding a commanding 28% of voter support—9 points ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD).

During his speech, Merz did not make any comment about Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and the death of thousands of Palestinians, but criticized the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I think it is inconceivable that a prime minister from Israel can no longer visit Germany or other countries in the EU because he is in danger of being arrested. It is inconceivable to me, and that is why we will have to look for ways to prevent this,” he said.

Merz argued that the Rome Statute was originally established to prosecute authoritarian rulers such as the former president of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, —not, as he put it, “democratically elected leaders” like Netanyahu.

“It is inconceivable to me that we are no longer allowed to invite an elected, democratically legitimate head of government of Israel to visit Germany, and I will do everything I can to make this possible, and to prevent any execution of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant,” he said.