Germany Takes New, Sharper Tone Toward Israel, Holds Back Military Spare Parts

BERLIN (AP) - Responding to Israel's incursion into Palestinian territories, the German government has held up arms deliveries and opposition politicians are speaking out against upsurge in fighting.
The moves in Germany, normally reticent to criticize the Jewish state because of the Holocaust, worries Israeli officials who rely on Germany as their most reliable European partner.

Germany has "a duty" to support Israel, and Israel "has high expectations of Germany," Zalmon Shoval, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Monday in a German radio interview.

But the Berlin government is openly showing displeasure, most notably by holding up arms deliveries.

"We just wanted to send a signal that in the current situation we are interested in de-escalation," Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping said this weekend.