Macron faces backlash after demand for Israel arms embargo in Gaza

PARIS — Emmanuel Macron is facing criticism from both inside and outside France for saying that deliveries of weapons used by Israel in Gaza should be stopped.

Over the weekend, the French president’s comments were condemned by members of his own party, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who directly addressed them in a blistering video statement that slammed Western leaders calling for an arms embargo. “Shame on them,” he said.

On Monday, one of France’s closest military allies also rejected Macron’s position. Asked whether he agreed with the French head of state’s view, United Kingdom Defense Secretary John Healey told Sky News: “No, we work a different system.”

London suspended the sale of a raft of arms components being used by Israel in Gaza after concluding there is a real risk weapons could be used in violation of international humanitarian law, but has refused to support a full arms blockade.

Adding to the controversy, the French president’s comments were broadcast on French radio France Inter two days before the commemorations of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants, who killed about 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages.

In retaliation, Israel launched a war on Gaza that has so far killed 41,500 people, many of them civilians.

Macron’s call for an arms embargo echoes similar pleas made in the past year by NGOs and lawmakers such as U.K. Labour MPs and French left-wing MPs, as well as high-profile politicians including United States Senator Bernie Sanders.

In February, a court in the Netherlands required the Dutch government to halt shipments of components for F-35 fighter jets to the Israeli government because of its continued assault on Gaza.

Divisive in France

In France, which has one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities and also a large Muslim minority, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been especially divisive.

Israel should “not be disarmed,” and should “stay in full capacity of being able to defend itself,” the speaker of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, who is from Macron’s Renaissance party, argued on Sunday.

Her pushback was echoed across the French political spectrum. Hard-right lawmaker Eric Ciotti condemned a “political error” that “weakens Israel at a time when it is surrounded by hostile Islamist dictatorships,” while Socialist MP Emmanuel Grégoire slammed Macron’s “unwelcome” proposal.

“Israel’s reaction is perfectly understandable,” conceded Jean-René Cazeneuve, an MP from the French president’s camp, referring to Netanyahu’s furious response. However, he broadly agreed with Macron, saying that “the violence of [Israel’s] response is creating generations of Palestinians who will fight tomorrow.”

In June, United Nations experts warned that countries and companies sending weapons to Israel risked “complicity in international crimes, possibly including genocide.”

Washington — Israel’s largest arms provider — did pause deliveries of some heavy bombs to Israel in May over its offensive in Gaza, but the flow of other military equipment has continued. Berlin has reportedly quietly slowed down approvals of war weapons exports this year.

An Israeli official, who asked not to be identified by name, told POLITICO that criticism by the Europeans doesn’t deter Netanyahu. “It actually helps him with his core supporters — it underlines how he is Israel’s champion. That’s why he pushes back so forcefully on Macron or others and always will.”

The most important relationship for Israel is with the U.S., its main arms supplier, not Europe, he added.

Jamie Dettmer contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Matt Honeycombe-Foster from London and Clea Caulcutt and Anthony Lattier from Paris.