Macron Criticizes U.S. 'Double Standard,' Urges Halt To Arms For Israel
French President Emanuel Macron has called for a halt to weapons delivery to be used in the Gaza Strip. He while giving an interview with France Inter, a public radio station also expressed his concern that the civilians of Lebanon could face a similar fate as those in Gaza.
“The priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to carry out fighting in Gaza,” Macron said.
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According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, France has not exported any arms to Israel in recent years but has supplied components of it.
France’s leader’s call has come amid mounting public scrutiny of the high death toll in Gaza and the widening aggression of Israel in Lebanon.
He said that Lebanon should not be allowed to “become a new Gaza”. “The Lebanese people cannot, in turn, be sacrificed”, he added.
Meanwhile, during a summit for francophone leaders in Paris on Saturday, Macron took a jab at the United States for supplying weapons to Israel and at the same time calling for a ceasefire. “If we call for a cease-fire, consistency is to not provide weapons of war,” he said. “And I think that those who provide them cannot every day call for a cease-fire alongside us and continue to supply them.”
He said that terrorism should not fought by “sacrificing a civilian population” and further noted that he had shared his concern with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well.
“I regret that Prime Minister Netanyahu made a different choice and took on this responsibility, in particular ground operations on Lebanese territory,” Macron said at the summit.
The United States has been the largest supplier of weapons to Israel. As per Washington’s report, they have supplied more than $3 billion worth of military aid per year to Israel in recent years.
Meanwhile, responding to Macron’s argument, Netanyahu in a video statement on Saturday criticized the French President and others who “call for an arms embargo on Israel”.
“Israel will win with or without their support, but their shame will continue long after the war is won,” he said.
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However, France later had clarified that the country remains a “steadfast friend of Israel” and described Netanyahu’s reaction as “excessive and detached from the friendship between France and Israel,” according to Le Monde.
