Survey says most Germans back recognition of Palestine

BERLIN

Unlike their government, most Germans support the recognition of a Palestinian state, said an opinion poll published by the Berlin-based foreign policy Internationale Politik on Sunday.

Some 54 % of those questioned said they are in favor of recognizing Palestine as an independent state, while 31% rejected this.

A large segment of young Germans and supporters of the radical leftist opposition party The Left Party backed this move.

Among Left Party supporters, some 85 % of respondents advocated for the recognition of Palestine. Among opposition Green Party backers, the figure was 66%, and among the co-governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) supporters, it was 52 %.

Support was particularly low among the co-ruling Christian Democratic Union/ Christian Social Union (48 percent) and the opposition far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) (45 percent).

A majority of Germans want their government to apply more pressure on Israel regarding its actions in the Gaza Strip, according to a new poll released Thursday.

The DeutschlandTrend survey, commissioned by public broadcaster ARD, found that 66% of participants agreed with the statement that "the German government should put more pressure on the Israeli government to change its stance on the Gaza Strip," while only 24% of respondents disagreed with this position.

According to various media reports, the co-governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) is working on a proposal to recognize a Palestinian state.

"As the SPD, we decided at the recent federal party congress that recognition does not have to be the end of a process toward a two-state solution," foreign policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group Adis Ahmetovic was quoted saying.

"We fully understand the announcements regarding the recognition of Palestine by France, Great Britain, and Canada." This is "a logical next step in their foreign policy."​​​​​​​

Growing public pressure on the German government—fueled by reports of children starving in Gaza—prompted Chancellor Merz to announce the partial suspension of arms exports to Israel on Friday.

The conservative leader said in a statement that the government will not authorize any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip, in response to the Israeli government’s recent decision to expand its military offensive and occupy Gaza City.

For months, chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected calls from opposition lawmakers to halt arms exports to Israel and dismissed appeals from EU members to suspend a trade agreement with Tel Aviv, even as Israel's military campaign and blockade in Gaza resulted in over 61,000 casualties, with women and children making up nearly half of the victims.