Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz

Federal Chancellery 

Willy-Brandt-Straße 1 

10557 Berlin

Germany

 

CC: 

Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Johann Wadephul

Minister of State for Europe, Gunther Krichbaum

Federal Minister of Finance, Lars Klingbeil

 

September 30 2025

Re: Immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement 

Dear Chancellor, 

We, the undersigned press freedom and journalist organizations, are writing to urge the German government to call for a partial or full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in order to protect journalists in Gaza and to advance our collective ability to access independent reporting. 

The Israeli government and Israel Defense Forces are engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that press freedom organizations have ever documented. Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted and murdered by the Israel Defense Forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. Media infrastructure in Gaza is systematically destroyed, and censorship has been tightened throughout the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel. The Israeli government has also taken the unprecedented step of refusing international media independent access to Gaza. 

European public opinion on Gaza is changing, in part as a result of the reporting from Palestinian journalists on the ground.  Their journalism -the stories, the personal accounts, and the images- has been a testament to the horrors suffered by the Palestinian people. It is imperative that all EU Member States continue to support Palestinian journalists as they carry out their work, while also advocating for international media–including German journalists–to have independent access to Gaza.

EU Member States are increasingly in support of suspending certain trade-related provisions of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel– which is now a formal proposal made by the European Commission.

We kindly urge the German government to: 

• immediately and publicly express Germany’s support for the partial or full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and encourage other EU Member States to follow suit;
• strengthen the calls on Israel to immediately allow the urgent delivery of food, clean water, and medical supplies to all journalists in Gaza through protected humanitarian corridors; 
• strengthen the calls on Israel to end the blockade on foreign press entry into Gaza; 
• and robustly demand the independent investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the starvation and killing of journalists (in line with the 2015 Security Council Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists in armed conflict).

This is a defining moment for Europe to defend its international reputation to uphold human rights and we call on Germany to take action.  

 

Undersigned:

ARTICLE 19

Association of European Journalists in Belgium

Committee to Protect Journalists

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom

European Federation of Journalists

Free Press Unlimited

IFEX

Index on Censorship

International News Safety Institute (INSI)

International Press Institute 

Media Diversity Institute 

Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT)

Ossigeno per l’infomazione, Ossigeno.info 

Reporter ohne Grenzen e.V.

South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)

Spanish Federation of Associations of Journalists (FAPE)  

The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation

This letter was produced as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors, and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and candidate countries.