French President Emmanuel Macron has cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against acting in contravention with UN.
“Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the UN. Therefore, he should not liberate himself from the decisions of the UN,” Macron said while convening with ministers on Tuesday.
However the Israel Prime Ministers Office responded saying, “A reminder to the French President: It was not a UN 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.”
The clash of the two leaders emerged following Israel’s bombing of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) posts in southern Lebanon.
Israel had earlier this week asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that UNIFIL soldiers be evacuated from their posts in southern Lebanon.
However, Guterres rejected Netanyahu’s demands. The UN chief’s spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, affirmed, “Peacekeepers remain in all positions, and the UN flag continues to fly.”
Netanyahu said that refusal of UNIFIL soldiers to evacuate Lebanon has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields.
Netanyahu’s office added, “It would also be worthwhile to recall that in recent decades, the UN 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.”
President Macron told the UN General Assembly last month, “there cannot be a war in Lebanon. This why we urge Israel to cease its escalation.”
Macron added that “Israel cannot, without consequence, just expand its operations to Lebanon.
“France demands that everyone respect their obligations along the Blue Line” between Israel and Lebanon he said, as he called for a diplomatic resolution that would spare civilian lives and prevent a regional conflagration.
France has a special relationship with Lebanon and has been heavily involved in efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the year-long constrained cross-border war between the IDF and Hezbollah.
