French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a U.N. decision, according to French media reports.
The comment came during a closed-door meeting at the Elysee, where Macron referenced a resolution passed by the U.N. General Assembly in November 1947 regarding the partition of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.
Macron, who has called to stop the export of weapons to Israel for use in Gaza and Lebanon, warned that this is not the time to ignore U.N. decisions.
Despite international outcry and calls for a cease-fire, Israel has continued its genocidal war on Gaza and offensive in Lebanon.
France has also condemned Israeli fire against U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
In response to Macron's remarks, Netanyahu's office released a statement claiming Israel was not established through a U.N. decision but after a "War of Independence."
"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," the prime minister's office claimed on X.
"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," it added.
Also Tuesday, Macron condemned "indiscriminate Israeli strikes" that only aggravate the human toll which is "already unbearable" in Gaza and in Lebanon, during a phone call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to an official statement Wednesday.
Macron renewed France's commitment to prevent a spillover in the region, "which would have devastating results for the populations and for international security."
The president, in that context, also "condemned the indiscriminate Israeli strikes that only aggravate the human toll, which is already unbearable in Gaza as in Lebanon."
Macron stressed the need for a cease-fire "without delays" in Lebanon and urged Netanyahu to stop his "operations."
"The president also expressed his outrage" over the injury of several U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon and urged Israel to put an end to "unjustifiable targeting" of U.N. forces in the region.
Macron also expressed deep concern over the situation in the West Bank, "the violence against the civilians, particularly from the settlers," the statement noted.
Israel's genocidal war in Gaza since last October has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazan Health Authorties.
Tel Aviv also escalated its operations in Lebanon last month, killing more than 1,500 people, assassinating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and displacing over a million others.
It launched a ground operation on Oct. 1 and has since also fired on a U.N. peacekeeping mission post in southern Lebanon.
