"In a year full of celebrations marking 50 years of German-Israel diplomatic relations, diplomatic niceties were absent at last week's UNHRC Gaza report vote in Geneva, where the Merkel administration condemned Israel for its military methods during Operation Protective Edge.
Asked by The Jerusalem Post on Monday why Germany voted against Israel, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry wrote, 'Germany led intensive negotiations with EU states in the United Nations Human Rights Council over the draft of the resolution. Thereby important changes of the content of the resolution could be reached, for example, a restriction of the follow-ups to the report of the fact-finding commission...'
German and Israeli critics hammered away at the Gaza report because of its one-sided attack on Israel. Philipp Mißfelder, a leading Christian Democratic Union part MP in the Bundestag, told the Post on Monday, 'Germany should not have supported the UNHCR report covering Operation Protective Edge.'
Mißfelder, the foreign policy spokesman for the CDU-CSU parties in the Bundestag, added, 'The report did not do justice to Israel's engagement. The Jewish state has the obligation and right to protect its territory and citizens. Although Hamas frequently used human shields, Israel's military did everything to prevent losses among the Palestinians...'"