After a successful election campaign, conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz stood in front of journalists at his party's headquarters in Berlin in high spirits. Merz is likely to become the new chancellor, probably with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) as his coalition partner.

The 69-year-old said that he had received numerous congratulations on Sunday evening and during the night. One of the well-wishers was Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Merz relayed that the two had had a lengthy telephone conversation and added that Netanyahu had called him. And then Merz dropped a sentence that has since caused quite a stir in German politics.

"I have also promised him that we will find ways and means for him to visit Germany and also to be able to leave again without being arrested in Germany," Merz said. "I think it is a completely absurd idea that an Israeli prime minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany."

Representatives of the other political parties in the Bundestag were outraged. In November last year, the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

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The ICC........

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