Why Germany is Preparing for a Great War

Trump's Former Russia Adviser Warns of Israel-Hamas War

It was published on the same day as an interview with Fiona Hill, former Russia adviser to US President Donald Trump, published in the Los Angeles Times. In her comments, Hill argued that the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts have the potential to be "global system-changing wars" like "the First and Second World Wars, which created and reflected major changes in the international order". Hill saw Hamas' attack on Israel as a kind of Pearl Harbour and claimed that Hamas had opened a second front. 

Hill's remarks echo those of Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz, who days earlier in an interview with Bild Zeitung compared the 7 October attack by Hamas to the 9/11 attack in the United States. The minister claimed that Israel, which he described as having the most moral army in the world, was waging World War III against radical Islam. Katz said that after the Hamas attack, it was necessary to accept that there were other countries that could act to destroy their neighbouring country, and that this war was not only a concern for the Jewish state. The determination in Europe and the United States is very understandable to me. Because this is not only our war. It is also Europe's war," she said, echoing Netanyahu. 

Following the 7 October Hamas attack and the harsh response of the Israeli army, there have been surprising reactions from different parts of the world and different nations. On a global scale, increasingly massive protests by pro-Hamas leftists and Islamists have swept across Europe, and many of them have also taken place in North America and Australia. Although the Biden administration, a supporter of the theopolitical mindset of the Israeli government, stands firmly behind Netanyahu, Washington is unlikely to stand by Tel Aviv forever.

Israel Strikes Jibaliya and Shati Refugee Camps, 445 Civilians Killed

Israel's air strikes on Gaza have been continuing for 25 days. Meanwhile, the Israeli Army has also started a land operation. An intense aerial bombardment was carried out yesterday on the Jibaliya Refugee Camp, which Israel had previously threatened to "evacuate". The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that 100 people were killed according to the first determinations in the attack organised by the Israeli army on Jibaliya Refugee Camp. According to some agencies, the death toll reached 400.

Jibaliya Refugee Camp is known as the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, located 4 kilometres north of Jibaliya city. The camp is located north of Gaza City. Established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War when 35,000 refugees fleeing from villages in the south of Palestine were settled here, the camp is one of the most densely populated places in the world with its 1.4 km² surface area. In the camp, 3 health centres, 1 food distribution centre, 25 schools, 1 public library and 7 water wells serve the refugees. 

Israeli warplanes first hit Jibaliye Refugee Camp and then targeted Shati Refugee Camp. According to the first determinations, 45 people died in Shati.

German Defence Minister Says His Country Must Prepare for War

The Israel-Hamas war is also having an impact in Europe. Indeed, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius alarmed the German public with a speech in which he stated that German society and the armed forces should be prepared for a possible war in Europe. In a stern warning to his own public, Pistorius urged Germans to "get used to the idea that there could be a threat of war on the European continent".

According to Die Welt, the Defence Minister, who evaluated the situation of the German Army, the Bundeswehr and other issues in the "Berlin Direkt" programme of the German state channel Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) broadcast on Sunday 29 October, said that Germany should prepare itself for war, take measures to defend itself, and prepare the army and society for such a possibility.

Pistorius argued that the Russian-Ukrainian war was a historic turning point for Germany and that this war must bring about a change of mentality in German politics and German society. "We need to get used to the idea that there could be a threat of war in Europe," he said, emphasising that European countries should prepare for a possible war on the continent.

He cited the Russian-Ukrainian war and the worsening conflict between Israel and Palestine as examples of the potential for armed conflicts in other regions.

The Defence Minister stressed that his country must be ready to defend itself in the event of a war in Europe, but that it would not be easy for the army to prepare for this and that the process of modernising the armed forces could not be accelerated. He rejected criticism that the German government had been slow to modernise the armed forces, claiming that the current government had taken the necessary steps to make up for decades of neglect and underfunding. "Everything that has been ruined, I am sorry to say, ruined in 30 years cannot be recovered in 19 months," the German Minister said, promising nevertheless that the Bundeswehr would undergo a radical transformation in the next three to four years. However, he had to admit that the German army in its current form is among the most troubled in NATO and Europe.

Responding to criticism that his Defence Ministry was spending the €100 billion defence budget too slowly, Pistorius said: "It will not be possible to speed up too much," adding that about two-thirds of the defence budget would be used by the end of the year, but that production and delivery processes take time. This situation also causes Germany's military support to Ukraine to be slow. It is known that Germany is experiencing difficulties in terms of production speed and ammunition stocks in the process of assistance to Ukraine. On the other hand, the German Ministry of Defence announced in recent weeks that an additional 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks, three Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 15 armoured personnel carriers and nearly 20 armoured ambulances would be delivered to Ukraine as soon as possible.

Conclusion

The German Defence Minister made an assessment taking into account the Russia-Ukraine War that started on 24 February 2022 and the Israel-Hamas Conflict that started on 7 October 2023. He stated that the war could spread to Europe and that his country should prepare for a war that could break out in Europe. Indeed, the Western bloc, which marginalised Russia and China, is now marginalising Islamic countries through Israel. It is almost pushing them to cooperate with China and Russia. If the Western bloc under the leadership of the United States will continue to pursue the endless ambitions of Netanyahu, who emphasises Western Civilisation as a basis for his theopolitical expansions and Zionist discourses, I believe that the end of this business may bring into play certain dynamics that can drag almost the whole world, especially European countries, into the fire. I am of the opinion that the Biden administration's turning a blind eye to the massacre in Gaza today in order to gain the full support of the Jewish lobby before the 2024 elections, and even continuing to encourage the Israeli government with aircraft carriers, military equipment shipments and financial aid amounting to 14 billion dollars, may eventually cause a destruction that will have negative effects on the whole world. I keep my hopes alive that Biden, despite his advancing age, can still display a prudent management. If not, the Israel-Hamas War may put the whole world on an irreversible path. If such a thing happens, history will record the Netanyahu-Biden duo as the first responsible.

References

Cüneyt Karadağ, “Almanya Savunma Bakanı, ülkesinin Avrupa'da olası bir savaşa hazırlıklı olması gerektiğini söyledi”, Anadolu Ajansı, 30 Ekim 2023, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/dunya/almanya-savunma-bakani-ulkesinin-avrupada-olasi-bir-savasa-hazirlikli-olmasi-gerektigini-soyledi/3038003

Sputniknews, “Almanya’dan 'Avrupa'da olabilecek bir savaşa' hazırlıklı olma çağrısı”, 30 Ekim 2023, https://sputniknews.com.tr/20231030/almanyadan-avrupada-olabilecek-bir-savasa-hazirlikli-olma-cagrisi-1076884166.html