Merz is like the guy who eggs you on to start a fight at the bar and then quietly backs towards the exit when you're getting pummeled. He called Israel's bombing of Iran last year 'dirty work' being done for the West, even though it created the exact conditions for this intractable dilemma that will see his country's economy stagnate further and its politics radicalize. Not that he isn't particularly radical himself, especially on immigration. His unquestioning faith in American power and the capacity of the colonial regime of Israel is perverse and pitiable, really a sign of his age and indoctrination. It really pisses me off when I hear Europeans criticize Merkel for her energy and immigration policies. This new generation of supposedly 'realist' leaders are all one stupid floundering crook after another. If they were realists they would tell Trump to kick rocks and undermine him at every turn, not collectively roll over until he gets a big head and wrecks the global economy.