Relations have never been so tense between the Israeli Prime Minister and the French President. In an interview with Le Figaro published this Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu defended his fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon and castigated Emmanuel Macron’s remarks according to which Israel “must not forget that its country was created by a UN decision” .
The head of the Hebrew state considers the French president’s declaration as “a sign of historical ignorance and lack of respect” and calls on France to “change its policy” with regard to Israel.
VideoMacron assures that France “will not tolerate” Israel “deliberately” targeting Blue Helmets again
“To say that the UN created the State of Israel is a distressing distortion of history,” the Israeli Prime Minister told our colleagues. “It is a sign of historical ignorance and lack of respect. The UN recognized the right of the Jewish people to a state, but it certainly did not create it,” he further objected, estimating that “the Jewish people have been attached to the land of Israel since 3,500 years “.
Israel “has absolutely nothing” against the Blue Helmets
“The modern State of Israel was created by the sacrifice of the courageous fighters of its war of independence – among them, many survivors of the Holocaust and the Vichy regime – who were able to resist the offensive of five Arab states leagued against him, who had not accepted the plan to partition Mandatory Palestine by the UN,” added Benjamin Netanyahu.
These words from Emmanuel Macron, revealed by Le Parisien and delivered behind closed doors at the last Council of Ministers, “were part of a general statement recalling the importance for Israel as for all of us to respect the charter of the United Nations”, had tempered the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.
In recent days, the Jewish state has angered France, but also Italy, by targeting – and injuring – peacekeepers from the UN peace mission, UNIFIL, in southern Lebanon. , where Israel is carrying out a ground military operation against Hezbollah.
As such, Benyamin Netanyahu believes in Le Figaro that Israel has “absolutely nothing” against the Blue Helmets. However, he believes “that Hezbollah often hides behind UNIFIL posts to launch missiles” in the north of the Hebrew state, bordering Lebanon and calls into question the effectiveness of UN mechanisms.
“I find this call shameful”
“I remind you that the resolution (1701) demanded that the only weapons present south of the Litani were those of the Lebanese army. However, in this area, Hezbollah has dug hundreds of tunnels and caches. »
While Emmanuel Macron called at the beginning of October for an international embargo on arms used in Gaza and Lebanon, Benyamin Netanyahu finally denounced a “shameful” call and said he hoped that France would modify “its policy”, to stand by his side.
“Although we are not receiving weapons from France, I find this call shameful. I hope that France will change its policy, so that we can work together for the stability of Lebanon, as well as on other regional issues,” he said.
