Sharp dialogue between Benjamin Netanyahu and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron regarding Israel’s violation of UN rules.
“Mr. Netanyahu should not forget that his country was created by a UN decision,” Macron said on Tuesday, October 15, referring to the November 1947 UN General Assembly vote on the plan to partition Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state.
Macron’s call not to ignore UN resolutions refers to the situation in southern Lebanon and Israeli fire on UN peacekeepers, which 40 countries condemned in a statement on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s response
Later in the day, the Israeli prime minister responded to Macron’s comment by saying that the country’s founding was achieved in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and not by a UN decision.
“A reminder to the president of France: It was not the UN decision that established the state of Israel, but the victory achieved in the war of independence with the blood of heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors, including the Vichy regime in France,” he said in a statement.
The Israeli War of Independence (1948-1949) referred to by Netanyahu followed the UN partition plan, leading to conflicts between the Jewish and Arab communities.
The civil war turned into a war of separate states with Israel’s Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948.
The Macron-Netanyahu feud
Tensions have risen between Netanyahu and Macron with the French leader insisting last week that ending the export of arms used by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon is the only way to end the conflict.
France has also repeatedly denounced Israeli fire on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, which includes a French contingent.
In the phone call between the two leaders, Netanyahu also said he opposed a “unilateral ceasefire” in Lebanon because it “would not change the security situation.”
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