Israel Arms Request Creates Dilemma for Germany

The confusion surrounding Germany's decision to provide Fuchs armored vehicles to Israel to protect itself from attack by weapons of mass destruction has prompted opposition from the government's supporters and detractors alike.

After an embarrassing series of bungles that led to the wrong armored vehicles being offered to Israel, Gerhard Schröder's Social Democrats (SPD) have now come under fire from their Green coalition partners and members of the opposition.

As part of a package to help defend Israel from any attack from Iraq in the case of war, Germany had offered to send its enhanced Fuchs armored vehicles -- a defensive model which is equipped to detect chemical, biological and nuclear contamination -- to be used in the protection of Israel’s own population.

Defensive model confused with Fuchs troop transporter

In a blunder later blamed on a misread fax, Germany appeared to offer a different variant of the armored vehicle than the defensive one. It emerged later that the Israelis had placed an order for the standard Fuchs tank, not the enhanced version with weapons-detecting electronics. The standard Fuchs is an armored personnel carrier, capable of carrying 10 soldiers, which analysts say is ideal for the kind of urban military incursions that Israel has been carrying out in the West Bank and Gaza.

Opposing politicians have reacted angrily saying that selling this version of the tank to Israel would almost certainly violate a national law prohibiting the sale of weapons to countries involved in political or military conflicts.

Greens express fears that Fuchs will be used in conflict

The junior coalition partners in the government, the Greens have collectively called for a resounding 'no' to the sale of the armored vehicles, fearing their possible use against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Party leader Claudia Roth made it clear in Berlin on Monday that the deployment of the Fuchs vehicles should be forbidden if there is even a suspicion that they would be used in any aggressive operations, including the suppression of the current intifada.

"Our position in that regard is very clear," she said.

"It would be very difficult to approve this because I think everybody will have this picture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in their heads," said Gernot Erler, an expert on foreign affairs and defense, who represents Schröder's Social Democratic Party in the German parliament.

The Israeli defense ministry was reported as saying in the German daily Bild Zeitung that the armored vehicles would not be used against the Palestinians. A spokesperson for the ministry in Jerusalem said that the vehicles would be used as intended - as transporters - and would not be used in the conflict or in the demolition of Palestinian houses.

Chancellor Schröder has still not come out with an official statement on the Fuchs affair. On Monday, he declined to comment on the issue, saying that only the Federal Security Council, that met secretly, could decide that. The Security Council comprises prominent members of the Cabinet, who decide on military exports.

CSU confused by deployment of Patriot missiles not tanks

The conservative opposition in Germany offered its opinion in the debate, hinting at hypocrisy in the Government's handling of the 'Arms to Israel' affair. Gerd Müller, a defense expert with the Christian Social Union (CSU), commenting in the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper, said that it was incomprehensible that the red-green government had agreed to send Patriot missile systems to Israel but didn't want to send the Fuchs.

The messy deal may now have to be rescinded by the German government in yet another damaging admission of incompetence. According to Associated Press reports, the Israeli defense ministry was said to be very pleased with the German government's original, although unintentional, offer. However, an argument is now brewing between the two countries over Germany's commitment to the offer of protection offered to Israel.

Israel protection deals rumored to placate United States

It could backfire further as experts believe that Germany's agreement to aid in the protection of Israel is a trade-off with the United States after the Chancellor's continuing refusal to join any military action against Iraq. With warming relations between Germany and the U.S. still tepid at best, any obstacle to the Bush administration's plans for the region would be looked on unfavorably.

Representatives from both the Israeli and German government are slated to meet later this week to discuss the military export proposals.