India, Feb. 24 -- The likely next chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz said on Monday that he has extended an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to come on a state visit.

The CDU bloc leader also vowed to find a way for Netanyahu to visit Germany without being arrested under a warrant by the International Criminal Court.

"I think it is a completely absurd idea that an Israeli Prime Minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany," Merz said at a press conference a day after his conservatives won the largest share of the vote in a national election.

He said he had told Netanyahu by phone "that we would find ways and means for him to visit ...