Israeli Minister Tells France’s Macron Not to “Lecture” on Morality After He Condemns Gaza Offensive as “Shameful”
Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has responded to French President Emmanuel Macron, who said the EU might reconsider its cooperation pacts with Israel over its “shameful” policies in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the French president said he was “shaken” by the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip during an interview on the television channel TF1.
“Shameful”, he used this word to express his views on the Israeli policies during the Gaza genocide.
“It’s terrible. (…) There’s no water, there are no medicines. They can no longer evacuate the injured,” said the president, responding to the testimony of an emergency doctor who had traveled to the enclave twice.
“I say it forcefully, what the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is doing today is unacceptable,” continued Macron.
“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 said.
Macron emphasized that he himself had visited the border between Egypt and Gaza earlier this year where he saw that “all the aid that France and other countries deliver” is “blocked by the Israelis.”
“This is an unacceptable humanitarian tragedy,” he said, adding that “it is not up to a president of the republic to say ‘this is a genocide’ but rather to historians.”
“My job is to do everything I can to make it stop,” Macron also said, while raising the possibility of revisiting the European Union’s cooperation agreements with Israel.
Since March 2, Israel has closed Gaza’s main crossings, halting the flow of food, medical aid, and other humanitarian supplies. This blockade has caused a severe and unprecedented decline in living conditions, with human rights organizations and countries accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also commented on Gaza on Wednesday, saying the situation is “intolerable and getting worse.”
“We are working with other leaders urgently to bring about a rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he said.
Israeli Response
Katz said in a statement, “We remember well what happened to Jews in France when they couldn’t defend themselves. President Macron should not lecture us on morality.”
“It is expected that someone who considers himself a friend of Israel would stand by Israel in its war against the murderous terrorist organisation Hamas and the Iranian axis of evil.”
Katz also claimed the Israeli army operates “with the highest level of morality under extremely difficult and complex circumstances – certainly more than anything France has done in its past wars”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also claimed Macron had opted to stand with Hamas and “echo its despicable propaganda.”
Macron is “demanding that Israel surrender and reward terrorism,” according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office. “Israel is engaged in a multi-front war for its very existence.”
Cases have been brought against Israel and its leaders in international courts on charges that they are committing genocide and war crimes in Gaza. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
