Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Israel on Wednesday, according to a Knesset statement, days after the German leader announced a $113 billion increase in his country's military funding.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Scholz's visit also comes days after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett offered to act as an intermediary in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Scholz noted that Russia's invasion of Ukraine encouraged his decision to invest further in Germany's military, UK daily The Guardian reported.
"It is clear that we must invest significantly more in the security of our country in order to protect our freedom and democracy," Scholz told an emergency session of the parliament.
With the newly announced funding, Germany will leapfrog other European countries to have the third-highest military expenditure in the world, behind only the United States and China.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
Scholz said it was "Germany's historical responsibility" to ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin "does not turn the clocks back."
On Saturday, Scholz announced Germany would break from its policy of not exporting weapons to conflict zones and send weapons and other supplies to Ukraine.
Long-term defense spending will also be increased annually by more than 2% of Germany's Gross Domestic Product, Scholz said, The Guardian reported. Defense spending now stands at 1.5%. Germany has been under growing pressure from its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to increase spending for years.
Last week, Scholz also suspended approval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was designed to double the flow of Russian gas to Germany.
In an address on Sunday, Scholz issued five "mandates for action": the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, the sanctioning of Russian interests, preventing the conflict from spilling over into other countries, increasing military spending, limiting the country's dependence on Russian gas, and the construction of two terminals to facilitate the import of gas.
In an interview with Britain's Channel 4 News, German minister Viola von Cramon commented on the country's decision to increase its military spending.
When asked if the world could expect Germany to take on more of a leadership role on the international stage, von Cramon replied: "This is what has been proven today… I would say yes."
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
