Israel: Macron’s a ‘disgrace’

A top Israeli minister lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, calling him a “disgrace” after Israeli firms were blocked from participating in a French arms fair.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant labeled Macron “a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world” in a statement on social media after the French government decided to ban Israeli companies from hawking their military wares at the Euronaval trade show in Paris next month.

“The decision to discriminate against Israeli defense industries in France a second time … aids Israel’s enemies during war,” Gallant said, referring to the French government’s earlier decision to exclude Israeli firms from another arms fair in June.

He accused France of “consistently implementing a hostile policy towards the Jewish people.”

“We will continue defending our nation against enemies on 7 different fronts, and fighting for our future — with or without France,” Gallant said.

The trenchant remarks are the latest escalation in a war of words between Macron and the Israeli government as Israel ramps up military attacks in Lebanon and Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at Macron on Tuesday after the French leader said Netanyahu “must not forget that his country was created by a U.N. decision” during a closed-door Cabinet meeting.

“A reminder to the president of France: It was not the U.N. 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 Holocaust survivors — including from the Vichy regime in France,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Macron has repeatedly called for a cease-fire in Gaza and demanded earlier this month that countries stop supplying weapons used by Israel to target the besieged enclave. The call triggered a blistering rebuke from Netanyahu, who slammed Western leaders pushing for an arms embargo.

“Shame on them,” he said.