Emmanuel Macron has been progressively raising the tone with Israel. The French president has gone from asking only for a humanitarian truce to demanding a real ceasefire and urging the Israeli army, in a very clear and direct way, to stop bombing and killing innocent civilians.
The statements by the head of the Elysée to the BBC occurred on the eve of the large demonstration against anti-Semitism that will be held today, Sunday, in Paris. Except for a last-minute surprise, Macron will not attend the march, which will take place between the National Assembly and the Senate, but the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, and the almost full Government will.
Like other Western leaders, the French president has had to measure his words very carefully since the beginning of the crisis, expressing his total solidarity with Israel after the Hamas terrorist offensive of October 7, but at the same time taking into account the fate of the Palestinian population and the traditional position of Paris, in favor of a lasting solution that includes the existence of two states. France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and an important voice in endorsing an eventual solution to the conflict, is the European country with the largest Jewish community – some 400,000 people – after the United Kingdom, and is also home to a population of Arab and Muslim origin of several million people and very sensitive to what is happening. A teacher was murdered, a few days after the war began, by a radical Islamist former student in the northern town of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais.
During the interview with the British public broadcaster, conducted in English – although subtitled to make the president's difficult pronunciation more understandable to the viewer – Macron did not dare to go so far as to accuse Israel of violating the laws of war. “I am not a judge, I am a head of state,” he warned. But he did emphasize the need to stop the bombings that are claiming the lives of civilians. “De facto, today civilians are bombed, de facto,” Macron stressed. These babies, these ladies, these elderly people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for it and there is no legitimacy. Hence we urge Israel to stop.” Asked if he would want other Western leaders to also call for a ceasefire, Macron replied promptly: “I hope they do.”
The French president recalled that his country has been hit many times by terrorism, although he greatly emphasized that democracies must modulate their response to attacks, due to a moral imperative. “It is extremely important for all of us because of our principles, because we are democracies,” he argued. “It is important in the medium and long term also for the security of Israel itself that it recognizes that all lives matter.”
It didn't take long for Israeli Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu to respond to Macron and shake off the pressure. “The crimes that Hamas is committing today in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York and anywhere in the world,” the premier said in a statement.
The French president yesterday attended events marking the 105th anniversary of the First World War armistice. A descendant of Alfred Dreyfus, the military victim of the famous anti-Semitism case, told Macron that she was disappointed that she was not going to today's march. The president, very seriously, replied that he has never been to a demonstration but that he will participate in it “with heart and thought.”
