THE GUARDIAN: Israeli prime minister turns on French counterpart’s continuing efforts towards a ceasefire and end to violence in Lebanon
A call by Emmanuel Macron for a halt in arms supplies to Israel for use in Gaza has been met with an angry rebuttal from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The French president’s comments were directed mainly at the US and were part of continuing French efforts to revive its call for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
France provides few arms to Israel but is keen to strengthen its longstanding influence in Lebanon by showing it wants the US to put some genuine pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire. Washington appeared to mount little diplomatic resistance when Israel – after sending mixed signals – rejected a US-French plan for a 21 day ceasefire in Lebanon announced at the UN in New York nearly a fortnight ago.
In an interview recorded on Monday, but broadcast on Saturday, Macron told France Inter radio: “I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop supplying weapons to lead the fighting in Gaza.” » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Sunday, October 6, 2024
To my great surprise, Emmanuel Macron is on the wrong side of history on this! Macron is ignoring what Hamas did to Israel and Israelis on October 7th, 2023, and he is ignoring the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu with our help will be able to rid the world of the scourges of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hamas. The Palestinian question will never be solved with these two rogue powers undermining peace in the region. We all want the very best for Palestinians. These poor people have suffered enough. But we cannot help Palestinians attain peace and prosperity if Iran and Hamas are big players in the region. They will sour it all. And let us not forget the heinous crimes that Hamas committed against the Israelis in 2023. – © Mark Alexander
