Netanyahu blasts back at Macron in argument over the creation of Israel

PARIS — Emmanuel Macron’s rupture with Benjamin Netanyahu is growing by the day.

Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, hit back Tuesday at the French president’s comments over the United Nations’ role in the foundation of Israel — telling Macron that Israel was founded by Holocaust survivors “including from the [Nazi collaborationist] Vichy regime in France.”

Macron had noted earlier Tuesday that the Israeli leader should not “ignore United Nations decisions,” during a closed-door meeting with his French ministers.

“Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a U.N. decision,” he was quoted as saying, referencing the U.N. General Assembly’s November 1947 vote that terminated the British mandate of Palestine and split the land into a Jewish and an Arab state.

Tensions have been rising between Macron and Netanyahu as Israel continues its strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon — a country that has long historical ties to France — especially as the Israel Defense Forces hit U.N. peacekeepers in the country’s south.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu clapped back at France, saying that Israel was created not by a U.N. ruling but by the 1948 war of independence.

“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.

The Vichy regime collaborated with Adolf Hitler’s occupation forces in World War II and helped Nazi Germany deport 76,000 Jews from France to concentration camps.

Macron also recently called for a halt to arms deliveries to Israel in an interview with French radio, which triggered an angry response from Netanyahu who declared “shame” on the French president.

France had last month attempted to broker a 21-day cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, which was scuppered when Netanyahu ordered strikes against the group’s headquarters, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah.