French President Emmanuel Macron has come under criticism at home and abroad for declaring that the supply of weapons used by Israel in Gaza should be suspended.
Macron called for a de facto arms embargo on Israel and, in a veiled attack on the US, said countries that simultaneously supply weapons and call for ceasefires where those weapons are used in conflict are inconsistent. French arms deliveries to Israel are minimal, Reuters points out.
Over the weekend, the French president's comment was condemned by members of his party as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in a harsh video address said that the statements of Western leaders calling for an arms embargo were "shameful".
Yesterday, Macron's position was also rejected by one of France's closest allies, the portal "Politiko" reported. When asked if he agreed with the position of the French president, the British defense minister told "Sky News" television: "No, we work according to a different system."
London has suspended the sale of a number of components for weapons used by Israel in Gaza, after concluding that there is a real risk that the weapons could be used in violation of international humanitarian law, but has refused to support a full arms embargo, the Brussels portal reminds.
Further fueling the controversy, the French president's comments were broadcast on French radio two days before the commemoration of the October 7 Hamas attacks, in which the militants killed around 1.200 Israelis and took 251 hostages.
In retaliation, Israel launched a war in Gaza that has so far claimed 41.500 lives, many of them civilians. The Gaza war has opened up a multi-front conflict in the Middle East, drawing in Iran's axis of resistance - Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis, Iraqi militias - and sparking several direct clashes between Israel and Iran.
Macron called for a de facto arms embargo on Israel and, in a veiled attack on the US, said countries that both supply arms and call for ceasefires where those arms are used in conflict are inconsistent
Yesterday, Israel marked the anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Jewish communities, as the country stepped up attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. The Israeli army also announced that it had intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired at central Israel from Yemen.
Macron's call for an arms embargo is reminiscent of similar appeals made during the past year by non-governmental organizations and some British Labor MPs and French leftists, as well as some prominent politicians such as US Senator Bernie Sanders.
In February, a court in the Netherlands ordered the Dutch government to stop supplying components for F-35 fighter jets to the Israeli government because of its continued attacks on Gaza.
United Nations experts warned in June that countries and companies that send weapons to Israel risk "becoming complicit in international crimes, possibly including genocide."
Washington, Israel's biggest arms supplier, suspended heavy bomb deliveries to Israel in May due to the Gaza offensive, but continued deliveries of other military equipment. In a telephone conversation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog yesterday, US President Joe Biden "confirmed his commitment to reaching an agreement in Gaza to return the Israeli hostages, secure Israel and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians".
Berlin allegedly slowed down the approval of arms exports earlier this year, writes "Politiko".
An Israeli official, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Brussels portal that criticism from Europeans does not bother Netanyahu. "In fact, it helps him with his die-hard supporters because he's portrayed as a hero of Israel. That's why he always opposes Macron or others so strongly."
He added that the most important relationship for Israel is with America, its main supplier of weapons, and not with Europe.
In France, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe as well as a large Muslim minority, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has particularly divided society.
Israel should not be "disarmed" and should "remain fully capable of defending itself," National Assembly Speaker Žaël Braun-Pive, who comes from Macron's Revival party, said on Sunday.
On the other hand, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, at the end of a four-day tour of the Middle East, that the security of Israel cannot be guaranteed exclusively by military force and that he will demand a diplomatic solution.
"Force alone cannot guarantee Israel's security, your security. Military success cannot be a substitute for political perspective," Jean-Noel Barreau said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
"In order to return the hostages to their loved ones and allow the displaced to return to their homes in the north (of Israel), after a year of war, the time has come for diplomacy."
Baro reiterated that it was strange to call for a ceasefire while offensive weapons were being delivered. He said that France, as a staunch defender of Israel's security, felt it was essential to be honest about the continued civilian suffering in Gaza, but also about the military operations currently taking place in southern Lebanon.
France worked with the US to try to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon at the end of September. Diplomatic sources believed at the time that a temporary truce was on the horizon, a day before Israel heavily bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut, killing longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
"We have a responsibility to act today to prevent Lebanon from finding itself in a dramatic situation like the one Syria found itself in a few years ago," Baro said yesterday.
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