Germany's Constitutional Court Dismisses Palestinian Challenge to Arms Exports to Israel, Affirming Government's Foreign Policy Discretion

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed a constitutional complaint brought by a Palestinian civilian from Gaza who sought to block German arms exports to Israel, in a ruling that reinforces the government's wide latitude over foreign policy and defence trade decisions Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min.

The complainant, supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), had challenged export licences for components produced by the German firm Renk that are used in Israeli Merkava tanks deployed in Gaza Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min. After lower courts rejected the case in 2024 and 2025, he appealed to the highest constitutional authority in Karlsruhe DER ANDERE BLICK - Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min.

The court's published reasoning struck a clear line between acknowledging Germany's obligations under international humanitarian law and limiting the judiciary's role in enforcing them. In the ruling, the judges stated that the complainant had not sufficiently substantiated that the specialized courts misjudged or arbitrarily denied a possible duty to protect him Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min. The court affirmed that while Germany must ensure human rights and humanitarian law are considered in export decisions, no individual has an enforceable claim to specific protective measures such as an export ban DER ANDERE BLICK - Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min.

In language that legal scholars regard as significant, the court wrote that in the area of foreign policy, the Basic Law grants the federal government a broadly measured scope for autonomous task fulfilment Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min. The formulation effectively insulates arms export decisions from judicial second-guessing by individual plaintiffs and preserves what the NZZ commentary described as the domain of national sovereignty Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min.

The case sits within a broader pattern of activist-driven strategic litigation aimed at reshaping German foreign and environmental policy through the courts. The ECCHR had previously supported two Yemeni complainants who unsuccessfully challenged the role of the US Ramstein airbase in coordinating drone strikes in Yemen DER ANDERE BLICK - Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min. A Peruvian farmer's climate lawsuit against RWE, supported by the organisation Germanwatch, was also ultimately rejected by the Higher Regional Court in Hamm, though the court partially accepted some of his arguments Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min.

The ECCHR reacted sharply to Thursday's decision. Alexander Schwarz, co-director of the organisation's International Crimes and Legal Accountability program, called it a setback for civilian access to justice DER ANDERE BLICK - Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min. He argued that the court acknowledges the duty to protect but only in the abstract and refuses to ensure its practical enforcement, adding that for people whose lives are endangered by the consequences of German arms exports, access to justice remains effectively closed DER ANDERE BLICK - Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min.

The ruling arrives against a complex backdrop of shifting German policy on arms sales to Israel. Berlin imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel in August 2025 under then-Chancellor Friedrich Merz, but lifted restrictions in November 2025 after a ceasefire deal was reached DER ANDERE BLICK - Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min. Germany is the second-largest military exporter to Israel, supplying naval equipment including Sa'ar 6-class corvettes and Renk-produced engines and gearboxes for Merkava tanks. One person familiar with Renk's operations told the Irish Times last November that while new gearbox sales remained relatively small, repair and spare parts supply grew dramatically during the Gaza conflict.

The $250 million in arms exports approved between January and early August 2025 underscored the scale of the relationship. During the brief embargo period from August 8 to September 13, no new approvals were issued, but within nine days of the restrictions being eased, $2.46 million in other military goods was approved.

Critics of the ruling argue that it effectively insulates the German government from accountability for the downstream humanitarian consequences of its export decisions. Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have repeatedly called on European states to halt arms transfers to Israel, citing what they describe as violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza. The International Court of Justice's advisory proceedings and the International Criminal Court's ongoing investigations into the conflict have added legal weight to these demands.

Supporters of the court's approach, including the NZZ's Sebastian Lange, contend that the alternative would have been far more dangerous. Allowing individual complainants or NGOs to effectively veto foreign policy decisions through the courts, Lange argued, would undermine democratic accountability by transferring sovereign decisions from elected governments to unelected judges Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min. He noted that the 2021 Federal Constitutional Court climate ruling, which ordered the government to strengthen its emissions reduction targets, had already blurred the boundary between judicial and legislative authority Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min.

The broader question of judicial activism in foreign affairs is not unique to Germany. Courts in the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom have faced similar cases challenging arms exports, with varying outcomes. The Dutch appeals court in 2024 ordered a partial halt to F-35 parts exports to Israel, a ruling that the Dutch government subsequently challenged.

Thursday's decision in Karlsruhe does not resolve the political debate over German arms exports to Israel, but it does clarify the constitutional boundaries. The court has drawn a line: while the state bears a duty to consider humanitarian law in its export policies, the enforcement of that duty belongs to the political branches, not to individual litigants. For the Palestinian complainant, who lost family members in the Gaza conflict and currently lives in a tent in southern Gaza, the legal avenue in Germany appears closed DER ANDERE BLICK - Über Rüstungsexporte nach Israel muss die Politik entscheiden. Gut, dass Karlsruhe sich den Aktivisten verweigertnzz.ch·SecondaryDer andere Blickvon Jonas Hermann, BerlinDeutsche Umweltverbände machen den Bürgern das Leben schwer 05.02.20263 min.