Statement on German Chancellor Merz’s Framing of Israeli Actions in Iran as “Dirty Work for All of Us”

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security condemns the statement made by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on 18 June 2025 while speaking with the German broadcaster ZDFheute. Merz claimed that Israel "is doing the dirty work for all of us," referring to the airstrikes conducted against Iran since 13 June 2025. During these attacks, residential areas in Tehran were targeted, resulting in the killing of over 900 people, including hundreds of civilians.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security reminds readers that the expression "doing the dirty work" (die Drecksarbeit machen) relates to organized crime and is often used to describe contract killings or extrajudicial executions.

The Lemkin Institute further reminds Chancellor Merz that the expression was also utilized by Nazi officials to justify their actions. For example, SS Chief Storm Leader August Häfner used the term when he was on trial for his role in the massacre of Babi Yar, where Nazi shooting squads and their collaborators murdered 33,771 Jews in less than two days.

The idiom “doing the dirty work” assumes the illegality and heinousness of an act. At the same time, it suggests that heinous acts are necessary to attain a putatively higher goal. Such ends-justify-the-means thinking contravenes international law. It justifies aggressive military violence and war crimes.

By employing such language, Merz expresses the belief that Israel’s aggressive war against Iran represents the collective interest of Europe. He also trivializes the gravity of military violence and war crimes. This makes a mockery of his constitutional obligation, in particular concerning Article 25 of the German Grundgesetz, which states that International Humanitarian Law is the foundation of German Federal Law.

At a time when offhand remarks by heads of state justifying criminality are becoming more and more common, the Lemkin Institute urges Germany to refrain from rhetoric that dehumanizes a nation, justifies aggressive war, and condones civilian harm.

The Lemkin Institute further urges the German leadership to reaffirm its legal and moral commitments to its own Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and International Humanitarian Law.

The German people must hold accountable leaders who enable the erosion of international law and human rights in support of aggressive war and genocidal violence.