The German newspaper Die Welt covered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mid-February visit to Berlin, reporting on the fury felt toward the Israeli leader by the circle surrounding Chancellor Angela Merkel. On April 30, it was the magazine Der Spiegel's turn, publishing a report that the German government is in the midst of a change in strategy regarding Israel and that Merkel definitely “understands” why Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turned to the United Nations.

Something very bad is taking place in relations between Israel and Germany, Israel's closest ally behind the United States. It is doubtful whether Foreign Ministry Director Dore Gold can improve things radically in the series of meetings he is scheduled to hold in Berlin the second week in May. Thus, following the United States, another important Israeli axis is being undermined, this time in Europe.

Germany is a country that stands at Israel’s side at critical moments. Germany is the country that supplied Israel with highly regarded Dolphin submarines, which according to foreign reports give Israel a second-strike capability should the country be hit by nuclear weapons. Sources in Berlin and Jerusalem are saying that the Germans are now considering a sharp change in policy.

A European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor, “Berlin is beginning to internalize that they can’t get anywhere with Netanyahu, because Israel’s prime minister fooled Israel’s friends and the West over the last seven years when he ‘pretended’ to endorse the two-state solution but actually adopted all possible tactics in order to kill it instead.”