German Chancellor Merz travels to Jordan and Israel on first visit

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to depart on Saturday for his first visits to Israel and Jordan since taking office in May.

Merz's first stop will be the Jordanian capital Amman, where he is scheduled to meet King Abdullah II. Later in the evening, the Chancellor is to be received by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem. A meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planned for Sunday.

Merz is also scheduled to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial to lay a wreath, a customary element of every inaugural visit by a German chancellor to Israel.

The trip is expected to focus on the recently strained relations between the two countries and on further stabilising the ceasefire in Gaza.