French President Emmanuel Macron called Saturday for a halt on arms deliveries to Israel for use in Gaza, provoking a sharp response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also criticized Netanyahu’s decision to send troops into ground operations in Lebanon.
“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron told French broadcaster France Inter.
“France is not delivering any,” he added during the interview, which was recorded Tuesday.
Macron reiterated his concern over the conflict in Gaza that is continuing despite repeated calls for a cease-fire.
“I think we are not being heard,” he said. “I think it is a mistake, including for the security of Israel,” he said, adding that the conflict was leading to “hatred.”
His comments brought a swift response from Netanyahu.
“As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office.
“Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them.”
Israel was fighting a war on several fronts against groups backed by arch-foe Iran, the statement added.
“Is Iran imposing an arms embargo on Hezbollah, on the Houthis, on Hamas and on its other proxies? Of course not,” Netanyahu said. All three groups are backed by Tehran and form part of its “axis of resistance” against Israel.
“This axis of terror stands together. But countries who supposedly oppose this terror axis call for an arms embargo on Israel. What a disgrace!”
Netanyahu said Israel would win even without their support.
“But their shame will continue long after the war is won,” he said.
“Rest assured, Israel will fight until the battle is won — for our sake and for the sake of peace and security in the world.”
Cease-fire call
French President Macron said avoiding an escalation in Lebanon was a “priority.”
“Lebanon cannot become a new Gaza,” he added.
And he returned to the subject Saturday in a speech to a conference of French-speaking nations in Paris.
While both Paris and Washington had called for a cease-fire, said Macron, “I regret that Prime Minister Netanyahu has made another choice, has taken this responsibility, in particular, for ground operations on Lebanese soil.”
The 88 members of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), including France and Canada, have called for an “immediate and lasting” cease-fire in Lebanon, he added.
But Macron reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defense and said that Monday he would be meeting relatives of Franco-Israelis held hostage in Gaza.
On Monday, Israel marks the first anniversary of the devastating October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war and has now engulfed neighboring Lebanon, creating a perilous regional crisis.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive on Gaza has so far killed at least 41,825 people, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory. The U.N. has said those figures are reliable.
