Germany’s bond with Israel has been admirable – but it is becoming a straitjacket | John Kampfner

As the relationship is tested by the Israel-Hamas war, it's clear a more flexible dynamic is needed to help secure a lasting peace

With Gaza bombarded, with thousands dead and its infrastructure largely in ruins, is it ever acceptable for a German to criticise Israel? Almost the entire German political establishment and most of those in public life apparently think not.

Since 7 October, the day Hamas fighters inflicted carnage on a music festival and on kibbutzim inside Israel, all the main parties - the three making up the government, plus the Conservative CDU opposition and even the far-right AfD - have spoken with one voice, in solidarity with Israel. It is not lost on Germans that more Jews were killed on that one day than on any single day since the defeat of the Third Reich.

John Kampfner's latest book is In Search of Berlin

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