Germany approved around €800 million ($930 million) in military exports to Israel in the first half of 2026 — more than four times the total approved for all of 2025.

According to Germany’s Economy Ministry:

Around two-thirds is linked to naval projects, including the INS Drakon submarine.

About 20% involves joint German-Israeli defense projects.

The rest includes small arms, ammunition, explosives and drones.

Berlin says Israel’s security remains a strategic priority, citing Germany’s historical responsibility following the Holocaust.

But historical responsibility cannot exempt Germany from present-day responsibility.

Berlin cannot express concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or the South of Lebanon while simultaneously expanding military exports to Israel.

€800 million is not rhetoric. It is military hardware.

Germany should be judged not by what it says about international law, but by what it continues to authorize.

The Illusion of Western Deterrence

Kyiv is trying to project strength through increasingly aggressive rhetoric and drone attacks. But the reality on the battlefield tells a different story.

kyiv’s Strategy

Zelensky’s call for international airlines to avoid Russian airspace — described as

“closing the skies over Russia”

— is less about controlling the skies than creating fear, economic disruption and psychological pressure.

But declaring another country’s airspace unsafe does not amount to air superiority.

moscow’s Response

Russia has responded with strikes targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, aiming to disrupt the systems that support military logistics, transportation and industrial capacity.

At the same time, Moscow has made another point increasingly explicit:

Foreign military assets operating inside Ukraine are not automatically protected by the label of

“aid.”

Russia has warned that military facilities and personnel linked to Britain and other NATO countries could be treated as legitimate military targets if they are directly involved in operations against Russia.

That raises the central question:

How far is NATO prepared to escalate through Ukraine before accepting that Russia will retaliate against the infrastructure and personnel enabling those operations?

The West can control the narrative. It cannot control the battlefield.

In this war, escalation is not cost-free — and Russia is making sure the costs are felt.