Emmanuel Macron reminded Benjamin Netanyahu this Sunday of France’s “unwavering commitment” to the security of Israel, during a telephone conversation intended to dispel the unease between the two countries the day after the French president’s declarations calling for stopping certain arms deliveries to Israel.
Emmanuel Macron expressed “his conviction that the time for a ceasefire has now come” in Gaza and Lebanon, announced the Elysée, while his Israeli interlocutor asked for his “support” and “not restrictions” , according to his office.
The two leaders discussed “the situation in the Middle East, in complete frankness and with respect for the friendship between France and Israel,” said the Elysée. They “assume their differences of view as well as their desire to each be well understood by the other,” he added.
Offensive against Hezbollah “an opportunity for Lebanon”
“We expect friends of Israel to support it and not impose restrictions on it which will only strengthen the Iranian axis of evil,” Benjamin Netanyahu declared to Emmanuel Macron, presenting his country’s offensive against Hezbollah as “an opportunity to change the reality in Lebanon for the benefit of stability, security and peace throughout the region.”
Emmanuel Macron had aroused the anger of Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday by affirming that the “priority” was now “a political solution” and “that we stop delivering weapons to carry out the fighting in Gaza” while specifying that France would not did not provide any herself.
“Attacks against Israel and its citizens must stop, whether they are carried out by Iran or its auxiliaries in the region,” said the French president, according to the Elysée.
