Merkel postpones Israel visit over Afghanistan pullout

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has postponed a planned trip to Israel this weekend over final evacuation efforts from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said Thursday.

"The chancellor's trip to Israel planned for August 28-30 has been cancelled in coordination with the Israeli prime minister due to current developments in Afghanistan," Seibert said in a statement.

"Both sides agreed that the chancellor's visit should take place at a later date."

Merkel, who will retire from politics after a general election next month, was to hold talks with Israel's new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog and receive an honorary doctorate from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

Throughout her 16 years in power, Merkel has described Israel's national security as a crucial priority of German foreign policy due to the country's historical responsibility for the Holocaust.

Germany is taking part in the current military operation by NATO allies to evacuate Afghans in need of protection as well as racing to complete a pullout of its own troops and personnel.

It has said this cannot continue once the Americans withdraw ahead of an August 31 deadline, which has created a desperate rush to airlift out as many people as possible before time runs out.