Israel has barred a German politician from entering Gaza, allegedly after first granting him permission to enter the Hamas-controlled territory.
Dirk Niebel, federal minister of economic cooperation and development, told the German news agency DPA that the Israeli Foreign Ministry blocked his visit to Gaza scheduled for Sunday after he had received the go-ahead from Israel’s Ministry of Defense on June 17.
The Foreign Ministry reportedly was concerned about Hamas using such high-level political visits for propaganda purposes.
Niebel was in the middle of a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The secretary-general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Stephan Kramer, told the NRZ newspaper on Monday that he found Israel’s decision unfortunate, since Niebel is a friend of Israel. But Kramer also criticized the politician for “allowing the issue to become exacerbated.”
Niebel, a vice president of the German-Israel Society, was scheduled to meet Monday with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Niebel told reporters that he welcomed news that Israel would be relaxing its blockade to allow all but military goods to pass through to Gaza.
He said he had wanted to visit a sewage treatment plant in Gaza that Germany helped construct.
“It’s getting harder for a friend of Israel to explain to their own people why Israel responds as it does,” Niebel told reporters in Jerusalem.
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