Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday issued a rejoinder to French President Emmanuel Macron’s claim earlier that day that Israel was created by the United Nations.
“A reminder to the French President: It was not a U.N. decision that established the State of Israel but the victory that was achieved in the War of Independence with the blood of our heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors, including from the Vichy regime in France,” said the Israeli premier.
“It would also be worthwhile to recall that in recent decades, the U.N. has approved hundreds of antisemitic decisions against the State of Israel, the purpose of which is to deny the one and only Jewish state’s right to exist and its ability to defend itself,” Netanyahu continued.
Earlier in the day, Macron reportedly told a cabinet meeting in Paris that “Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the U.N.,” referring to U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181, adopted on Nov. 29, 1947, that planned to partition the British Mandate into two states, one Jewish, one Arab.
The resolution gave international backing for the establishment of the State of Israel, which was admitted to the United Nations as a full member on May 11, 1949.
France was one of the 33 countries that voted in favor of the partition plan.
“Therefore, this is not the time to disregard the decisions of the U.N.,” Macron added.
Netanyahu and Macron also spoke by phone on Tuesday, according to Netanyahu’s office.
“The Prime Minister told President Macron that he opposes a unilateral ceasefire, which would not change the security situation in Lebanon and would return the country to its previous state. He emphasized that Israel is operating against the Hezbollah terrorist organization to prevent it from threatening Israel’s citizens on the northern border and to enable them to return to their homes safely,” Netanyahu told the French leader, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu clarified that Israel would not agree to any arrangement that does not provide this and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping.
“The Prime Minister also said that he was taken aback at President Macron’s intention to host a conference in Paris on the issue of Lebanon, with participants such as South Africa and Algeria, which are working to deny Israel its fundamental right of self-defense and, in effect, reject its very right to exist,” the statement continued.
Netanyahu earlier this month publicly rebuked Macron in an unusually harsh statement, after Macron called for a partial arms embargo on Israel.
“I have a message for President Macron. Today, Israel is defending itself on seven fronts against the enemies of civilization,” said Netanyahu. “All civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side. Yet President Macron and some other Western leaders are now calling for an arms embargo against Israel. Shame on them,” he said, adding: “What a disgrace.”
Israel, Netanyahu said, will “win with or without their support, but their shame will continue long after the war is won.”
Netanyahu and Macron spoke on the phone after the arms embargo spat, expressing no regret or change in their previously stated positions, officials from both countries said.
France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs during a visit to Israel earlier this month doubled down on Macron’s call for an arms embargo on Israel, adding that this is also meant to protect Israelis.
“To ensure Israel’s security and that of Israelis, the use of force must give way to dialog and diplomacy. For this reason, France, like most of the countries in the world, is calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. And when one calls for a ceasefire, one cannot simultaneously provide arms to the warring parties. It’s a question of coherence,” Jean-Noël Barrot said.
Spain and Jordan have also joined France in calling for an arms embargo on Israel and the Biden administration is demanding that the Israeli government increase humanitarian aid to Gaza or risk losing access to U.S. military equipment.
The French government on Tuesday banned Israeli companies from participating in the Euronaval defense exhibition, the world’s largest naval weapons fair, set to take place next month in Paris.
The Tribunal de commerce de Paris, or Commercial Court of Paris, in June reversed a ban imposed on Israeli defense companies to prevent them from exhibiting at this year’s Eurosatory, a biennial weapons trade show.
The court also ruled as discriminatory a separate decision that had barred all Israeli citizens from visiting the show unless they signed a waiver declaring they weren’t there in any official capacity.
There has been a deterioration in relations between Israel and France. Macron, a centrist, is under a fierce attack by the left-wing over his country’s bilateral relations with Israel and his administration’s attempts to limit anti-Israel rioting.