As Netanyahu blasts Macron, Paris seeks to play down the quarrel
'Netanyahu’s words are excessive and unrelated to the friendship between France and Israel'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at France's President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday for saying that shipments of arms to Israel used in the conflict in Gaza should be stopped as part of a broader effort to find a political solution.
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"Today, Israel is defending itself on 7 fronts against the enemies of civilization," Netanyahu said. "We are fighting in Gaza against Hamas, the savages who murdered, raped, beheaded and burned our people on October 7th. We are fighting in Lebanon against Hezbollah, the most heavily armed terror organization in the world, which was planning an even greater massacre than October 7th on our Northern border, and that has rocketed Israeli towns and cities for nearly a year."
"We are fighting against the Houthis in Yemen, and the Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, that together have launched hundreds of drones and missile attacks against Israel. We are fighting against terrorists in Judea and Samaria, who are trying to murder civilians in the heart of our cities. And we are fighting against Iran, which last week fired over 200 ballistic missiles directly at Israel and which stands behind this seven front war against Israel."
"As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side. Yet President Macron and other western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them."
Macron earlier told France Inter radio that the priority was "to get back to a political solution (and) that arms used to fight in Gaza are halted. France doesn't ship any."
Responding to Netanyahu’s angry statement, Macron’s office stressed that the leader “supports Israel’s security and demonstrates it.”
“France is Israel’s steadfast friend,” read the statement from the Élysée. “Mr. Netanyahu’s words are excessive and unrelated to the friendship between France and Israel.”
France is not a major weapons provider for Israel, shipping military equipment worth 30 million euros ($33 million) last year, according to the defense ministry's annual arms exports report.