Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for his call to halt arms shipments to Israel for use in Gaza.
Macron told France Inter Radio that “the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop supplying weapons for the struggle in Gaza.”
At a summit in Paris on Saturday, the French president reiterated his concerns about the continuation of the conflict in Gaza despite calls for a ceasefire, and also criticized Israel’s decision to send ground troops to Lebanon.
Netanyahu responded: “Shame on them,” referring to Macron and other Western leaders who have called for what he described as an arms embargo on Israel.
In a video released by his office, Netanyahu said: “Israel will win with or without their support,” adding that calling for an arms embargo was “a shame.”
In an interview with the French broadcaster recorded on Tuesday and broadcast on Saturday, Macron said that “France does not supply weapons to Israel.”
He added: “I don’t think we’re being heard.”
“I think it is a mistake, also for Israel’s security,” he said, adding that the conflict led to “hatred.”
Macron also said that avoiding an escalation in Lebanon was a “priority” and that “Lebanon cannot become another Gaza.”
Netanyahu’s office responded by saying that any country that did not support Israel supported Iran and its allies and allies.
Netanyahu said: “As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries must stand firmly with Israel.
“Yet President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them.”
Macron’s office later said France is a “steadfast friend of Israel,” adding that Netanyahu’s response was “excessive and disconnected from the friendship between France and Israel.”
Speaking at the 19th Francophonie Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris on Saturday, Macron said that while both the US and France had called for a ceasefire in Lebanon, he added: “I regret that Prime Minister Netanyahu has no other choice took on this responsibility, in particular for ground operations on Lebanese soil.”
However, Macron reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defense and said he would meet on Monday with relatives of French-Israelis held hostage in Gaza.
Monday will mark the first anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage. More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the territory’s Hamas-led health ministry says.
