Did Germany lose its UNSC seat because of support for Israel?

Germany lost its Security Council bid to Austria and Portugal, which secured the two available seats.

Germany failed to secure a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday, with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul suggesting that Berlin’s support for Israel may have cost the country crucial votes.

The UNSC consists of 15 members, including five permanent members and 10 elected members serving two-year terms. Germany was competing with Austria and Portugal for two seats allocated to the “Western Europe and Others” group, with the two other countries ultimately securing the positions instead.

Wadephul’s bid won 104 votes in the UN General Assembly, falling 23 short of the two-thirds majority required for election.

This is the first time Germany has failed to win a rotating seat on the Security Council after decades of successfully securing one of the Western European seats every eight years. Here’s what we know.

Wadephul travelled to New York last week to personally lobby for Germany’s candidacy for the UNSC, reportedly meeting around 80 ministers and ambassadors at the UN and hosting a reception on Monday evening.

But as the votes came in, the defeat immediately fuelled criticism at home of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who entered office promising to restore Germany’s influence in Europe and on the world stage.

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), described the result as an “embarrassment”, while Adis Ahmetovic, foreign policy spokesman for the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary group, said the vote was “a gauge of how [Germany] is perceived internationally”.

Germany’s foreign minister attributed the defeat to the country’s positions on both Ukraine and Israel. “We have always taken a clear stance on certain issues, and these are positions that not all member states share,” Wadephul told reporters, adding that it was “no secret” that Russia had worked to generate opposition to Germany’s candidacy.

“There is our firm support for Ukraine; the fact that Russia does not want such a voice at the Security Council,” he said.

But Wadephul also acknowledged that Germany’s support for Israel may have hurt its chances. “The fact that Germany must always assume a special responsibility for Israel in the Middle East conflict may also have cost votes,” he said, referring to Germany’s backing of Israel in the shadow of the Nazi Holocaust during World War Two.

Some analysts have dismissed the suggestion that Germany’s support for Ukraine played a significant role in the vote, arguing instead tha