In one sentence on the creation of Israel, Macron revives tensions with Netanyahu

Ten days after provoking Netanyahu's anger, Macron has rekindled eacute; tensions on Tuesday by announcing in the middle of a cabinet meeting that “Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a “UN decision”.

Nothing is going well between Emmanuel Macron and the Israeli Prime Minister. As reported by ;eacute;vélé Le Parisien, this Tuesday, October 15, in the middle of the Council of Ministers, the President of the French Republic declared that “Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the UN”. These remarks were confirmed in the capital's daily by several participants, who referred to the repeated Israeli strikes against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in recent days. “Therefore, it should not disregard the decisions of the UN,” Emmanuel Macron said at the same meeting.

Comments that were not intended to be made public, but which ultimately quickly reached the ears of the main person concerned. “A reminder to the President of France: it was not the UN resolution that established the state of Israel, but rather the victory won in the War of Independence with the blood of heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors – notably from the Vichy regime in France,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement released by Tuesday night.

An already tense relationship between Macron and Netanyahu

This new episode is unlikely to reconcile Emmanuel Macron and Benyamin Netanyahu, whose relationship had already become strained on October 5. During an interview with France Inter, the French president spoke out in favor of stopping arms deliveries to Israel for use in the Gaza Strip. “I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to lead the fighting in Gaza”, declared Emmanuel Macron. And to assure: “France does not deliver any.”

Words that had aroused the ire of the Israeli Prime Minister.  "As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should stand firmly alongside" the "Jewish state", reacted Benjamin Netanyahu in a video, adding:  "Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. They should be ashamed!” Despite the attempts by the “Eacute;lys” to calm things down, including the publication of a press release in which France was referred to as an “unwavering friend of Israel”, Emmanuel Macron's name was roundly booed during his Prime Minister Michel Barnier's speech at the tribute ceremony for the victims of October 7 organized by the CRIF. 

At the end of last week, Emmanuel Macron had already described as "completely unacceptable" that UN peacekeepers had been “deliberately wounded by Israeli armed forces”, clearly raising the tone against the Hebrew state: “France will not tolerate any new shooting.” And to add on Saturday, this time expressing “its great concern about the intensification of Israeli strikes in Lebanon and their dramatic consequences for the civilian population”.