For several weeks, tension has been rising between Paris and Tel Aviv. While Israel is putting pressure on the UN peacekeepers present in South Lebanon, Emmanuel Macron wanted to remind Benjamin Netanyahu that it is thanks to the United Nations that the Jewish state was created.
At the heart of the diplomatic impasse in the Middle East, the tone is rising between Emmanuel Macron and Benjamin Netanyahu. While Israel ignores UN calls for a ceasefire, the President of the French Republic insisted that the Israeli Prime Minister should not “forget that his country was created by a decision of the ‘UN (…) and therefore this is not the time to free ourselves from the decisions of the UN”.
Emmanuel Macron refers to the plan to divide the territory into a Jewish state and an Arab state by the United Nations General Assembly in November 1947.
We do not know whether these remarks were intended to be broadcast, but Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told BFMTV that they were “part of a general statement recalling the importance for Israel, as for all, of respecting the Charter of the United Nations.
Explain to us by Matthieu Belliard: Macron-Netanyahu, the tone is rising – 16/10
The fact remains that these words irritated the Israeli government… And Benjamin Netanyahu’s scathing response was quick: “It was not the UN resolution that established the State of Israel, but rather victory achieved in the War of Independence with the blood of heroic fighters, many of whom were survivors of the Holocaust – notably from the Vichy regime in France.”
It’s a real battle of arms, a diplomatic joust and even a clash, even if Emmanuel Macron and Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone this Tuesday.
Old tensions
But the tensions are not new. The rag has been burning since France pleaded for a halt to arms exports to Israel: the only way to end the wars in Lebanon and Gaza for Emmanuel Macron.
The situation has become even more tense in recent days. Paris considers it completely unacceptable” that UN peacekeepers are targeted by the IDF in southern Lebanon. Emmanuel Macron expressed his “indignation” after several peacekeepers were injured.
Because in this area there is UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), which has 10,000 soldiers under the UN flag, including 700 French.
Since the end of the last war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah in 2006, these peacekeepers and the regular Lebanese army are normally the only soldiers able to deploy in the region.
On the one hand, Israel accuses the UN of having turned a blind eye to the actions and rearmament of Hezbollah. On the other hand, Israel is also accused. There have been reports of shooting deemed “deliberate” against the positions of the Blue Helmets. UNIFIL denounced the entry of two Israeli tanks into one of its positions on Sunday.
Technically, these UN forces have the right to defend themselves, to use force. In fact, it is very difficult to imagine a UN force retaliating against Israel.
Israel demands UN forces to leave area ‘immediately’
For his part, Benjamin Netanyahu asks the UN to leave the area “immediately”. The UN has already answered “no”. “It is important that the United Nations flag continues to fly high in this region,” according to the UNIFIL spokesperson, for whom the Israeli army wants to have “freedom of action throughout its area of operation” .
Israel claims to have discovered a tunnel in this area, which is believed to be a work of Hezbollah and which is located a stone’s throw from an advanced UNIFIL post, the UNP 1-31 base. Very close to the Lebanese-Israeli border. A tunnel which makes the Jewish state say that despite the presence of the UN and the 2006 resolution, Hezbollah was able to use the area as a support point. Nothing seems to be able to ease the crisis of confidence between Israel and the UN.
Matthieu Belliard (with GD)
