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 that international opposition to Berlin’s backing of Israel was more likely the decisive factor.
“Let’s be clear: Germany’s support for Ukraine had nothing to do with it. Portugal and Austria – who beat Germany – are no less supportive of Ukraine,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
“It has everything to do with Germany’s support for Israel’s genocide and the manner in which the German government has been willing to undermine international law and the UN Charter on behalf of Israel. Germany’s blind support for Israeli crimes cost Germany its seat on the UNSC. As it should.”
Parsi further argued that Germany’s recent foreign policy has damaged its international standing, despite the country’s diplomatic influence and financial contributions to the UN.
“I am not surprised in the least that Germany lost its bid for a UNSC elected seat, despite being the second-largest financial contributor to the UN and for its leadership role negotiating the Pact of the Future … hopefully, it will prompt some serious rethinking in Berlin.”
Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York office of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), also linked the defeat to Germany’s position on Israel and Palestine.
“In a rare moment of justice at the UN General Assembly today, Germany lost its bid for a UN Security Council seat,” he said.
“Germany’s scandalous support for genocide in Palestine and aggression against Iran, and its repression of human rights defenders inside Germany, were all on display as the body handed Germany this unprecedented loss.”
Since Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, Germany has cracked down hard on pro-Palestine protests and ordered the deportation of several activists, drawing international criticism.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, German diplomats have typically pursued a cautious approach to Israel, frequently abstaining on resolutions concerning Israel and Palestine while maintaining support for a two-state solution and international law.
Since October 2023, the UN General Assembly has voted on at least seven resolutions related to Gaza and the broader question of Palestine. Germany abstained on four of them, including two resolutions in 2023 that called for a humanitarian truce or ceasefire.
Berlin also abstained in a vote to support Palestine’s bid for enhanced UN membership and on a resolution demanding that Israel end its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. It later voted in favour of ceasefire resolutions, including one in 2024 and another in 2025. By then, tens of thousands of Palestinians had already been killed in Gaza. The enclave’s death toll, from what human rights groups describe as Israel’s genocide in Gaza, has since surpassed 70,000, with many thousands more missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
Since the ceasefire last October, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has visited Israel and met Benjamin Netanyahu – despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister in 2024 and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to refrain from genocidal acts in Gaza the same year as it investigates South Africa’s allegations of genocide. Several other countries have since joined South Africa’s legal case against Israel.
During his visit to Israel last December, Merz said Germany had no plans to recognise a Palestinian state “in the foreseeable future”.
His trip came days after Germany lifted a three-month suspension on arms export approvals for weapons that could be used in Gaza. A recent Al Jazeera investigation found that weapons originating from Germany continued flowing to Israel during the period of arms restrictions.
Germany has also faced criticism from rights groups over its domestic response to pro-Palestinian activism, with video showing German police using heavy-handed measures to detain peaceful protesters.
While Germany’s support for Israel may have played a role in the outcome, there are additional factors that may have also contributed to its defeat, observers say.
Portugal, which secured one of the two seats up for grabs, entered the race with strong diplomatic ties across the Portuguese and Spanish speaking world, while the country’s international standing has also grown in recent years.
Antonio Costa is President of the European Council, while Antonio Guterres is the UN secretary-general, solidifying a reputation for Portugal as a relatively neutral diplomatic actor that can appeal to a broad base of countries – particularly in the global south.
Austria may have benefitted from its longstanding military neutrality, which is constitutionally mandated. Unlike Germany, Austria is not a NATO member, a position that may appeal to non-aligned countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Vienna’s status as one of the UN’s main global hubs has also helped Austria cultivate a reputation as a committed multilateral actor.
Timing may have been another factor. Austria began campaigning for the 2027-2028 Security Council term several years before Germany entered the race, giving it a significant head start in building diplomatic support.
But experts say Austria’s victory may also reflect something broader: Germany’s declining standing among parts of the international community, particularly due to its steadfast support for Israel.
Like Germany, Austria has traditionally been among Israel’s strongest supporters in Europe. But as a smaller, militarily neutral state, it has largely avoided the level of scrutiny directed at Berlin and has not become as closely associated with defending Israeli policy on the international stage.
This difference of perception was reportedly captured by one senior Austrian diplomat’s pitch to undecided countries during the campaign: vote for Austria, they said, “precisely because we’re not the Germans”.
