Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her support for Israel's right to defend itself in the Middle East conflict, DPA reported, BTA reported.
"If some are allowed to say that they want to wipe out the state of Israel, then the state of Israel must be able to defend itself," Merkel told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" newspaper in a comment published today.
Regarding concerns about whether Israel's actions are in line with international law, she stressed: "When the existence of a state is called into question by "Hamas" or Iran, it is not so simple to answer this question within the framework of international law".
Merkel also said that the situation in the war in Ukraine is completely clear.
"Russia's attack on Ukraine is a clear violation of international law. Ukraine has never threatened Russia and yet it was attacked," she stressed.
The former German chancellor also touched on other topics in the interview, including financing the fight against climate change, artificial intelligence and the possibility of a woman taking the presidency in Germany.
Since the publication of her biography in November, Merkel has often spoken out on political topics, which is unusual for former chancellors in Germany. She made critical remarks about a parliamentary proposal on migration policy put forward by her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), which she said was "consciously" adopted with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.