Macron calls to halt arms shipments to Israel for use in the Gaza war
France participated, together with the United States, in the negotiations to reach a truce between Israel and its enemies, a ceasefire that has not yet been achieved.
Emmanuel Macron and Benjamin Netanyahu
French President Emmanuel Macron called Saturday to stop the shipment of arms to Israel for the war in Gaza. He did so during an appearance on public radio station France Inter when questioned about the situation in the Middle East.
"I think the priority today is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza," he said on France Inter radio. "France does not send," he added in the interview. The French president lamented that the situation is not changing in Gaza, despite diplomatic efforts undertaken to obtain a ceasefire, particularly with Israel.
"I think we are not being heard. I have said it again to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and I think it is a mistake, also for Israel's security tomorrow," Macron stressed. France participated the previous week in negotiations to reach a truce between Hezbollah and Israel. The truce was not achieved. Instead, Israel succeeded in eliminating the terrorist group's leader.
"We see it clearly in our public opinion, and we see it even more clearly in public opinion in the region, deep down there is resentment being born and hatred is feeding off of that," he added.
U.S. President Joe Biden will maintain his policy of support for Israel, beyond the suspension he made in May of a delivery of heavy bombs. The U.S. ships $3 billion worth of weapons to Israel each year.
However, the pressure that various pro-Palestinian groups exerted on Democrats to change this foreign policy was greatly underscored. Among Democratic voters, there is greater sympathy for the Palestinian cause, as polls show, which posed a dilemma for the Biden-Harris administration in the middle of the campaign.
The United Kingdom announced in September the suspension of some 30 arms export licenses to Israel out of a total of 350, citing a "risk" that they would be used in actions that violate international law in the conflict in Gaza, which erupted following an attack by the Islamist terrorist group Hamas on Israeli territory on Oct. 7.
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