History of the creation of the State of Israel: what are Macron and Netanyahu each referring to?

The story of the creation of Israel at the heart of a controversy. Tuesday October 16, the tone rose again between French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a new very firm exchange on the role of the UN in the creation of the Hebrew state.

“Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a UN decision,” would have launched Emmanuel Macron in the Council of Ministers, according to comments reported by participants, while the war in Gaza was being discussed. “And therefore this is not the time to free ourselves from UN decisions”he continued, indirectly addressing the Israeli Prime Minister.

1947 resolution

During this speech, the French president referred to UN resolution 181, adopted on November 29, 1947. In the first part, it decided the end of the British mandate over Palestine, where 1.3 million people live. Arabs and 600,000 Jews. The British Mandate “must be completed as soon as possible, and in any case by August 1, 1948, at the latest”we can read in the resolution.

Secondly, the text determines the division of Palestine into three parts: a Jewish State of 14,000 km², an Arab State of 11,500 km², and Jerusalem and its surroundings, “under a special international regime administered by the United Nations”it is specified in the third part of the resolution.

“War of Independence”

A remark that made the Israeli leader jump. “A reminder to the President of France: it was not the UN resolution that established the State of Israel, but rather the victory achieved in the War of Independence with the blood of heroic fighters, many of whom were survivors of the Holocaust – notably of the Vichy regime in France”reacted Benyamin Netanyahu in a press release.

This time, the Israeli leader is referring to the first Arab-Israeli war, also called “War of Independence” in Israel. It broke out on May 15, 1948, the day after the proclamation of the creation of the State of Israel by the president of the Jewish National Council, David Ben-Gurion. At the end of this war, Israel ended up occupying 78% of the territory. 760,000 Palestinians in this new Israeli state are forced to go into exile.

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For his part, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif), Yonathan Arfi, also reacted on “if confirmed, are both a historical and political fault”. These recent statements come as Paris calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, denouncing Israeli fire deemed “deliberately” against positions of the Blue Helmets of the UN peace force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The head of French diplomacy Jean-Noël Barrot, for his part, clarified that the declarations of the head of state aimed to remind “the importance for Israel as for all countries to respect the Charter of the United Nations, international law and international humanitarian law”.