Israel: Merz wants to facilitate Netanyahu visit

CDU leader Friedrich Merz has stressed that he would allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Germany despite an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in the Gaza war. In a phone call on Sunday, he promised Netanyahu that if he did visit Germany, "we would find ways and means to ensure that he can visit Germany and leave again without being arrested in Germany," said the likely next German Chancellor. "I think it is a completely absurd idea that an Israeli Prime Minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany," said Merz.