Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday charged French President Emmanuel Macron with “blood libel” and “siding with Hamas” after the French leader denounced Israel’s siege of Gaza as “shameful.”
“Macron has once again chosen to side with a murderous Islamist terrorist organization and echo its despicable propaganda, accusing Israel of blood libels,” the PM’s office said in a statement.
The response came after Marcon slammed Netanyahu’s Gaza policy in comments on French TV. “What the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is doing is unacceptable …There is no water, no medicine, the wounded cannot get out, the doctors cannot get in. What he is doing is shameful,” Macron said.
“We need the United States. President [Donald] Trump has the levers. I have had tough words with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I got angry, but they [Israel] don’t depend on us, they depend on American weapons,” he added.
The French President went on to say that the European Union could revoke its trade agreements with Israel over the onslaught in Gaza.
The statement from Netanyahu’s office added that Macron’s remarks exaggerated the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. It said, “Instead of supporting the Western democratic camp fighting the Islamist terrorist organizations and calling for the release of the hostages, Macron is once again demanding that Israel surrender and reward terrorism.”
However, the IDF has recently admitted that freeing Israeli captives is the least important objective in Gaza. Additionally, Netanyahu said Israel would not agree to a permanent end to fighting, and would expel over 50% of the Palestinians in the Strip.
