Macron to Netanyahu: ‘Don’t forget, the UN made Israel’

Netanyahu and Macron spar over French demand that Israel reach ceasefire with Hezbollah and Israel’s call for UN peacekeepers to evacuate from southern Lebanon.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israel’s prime minister and France’s president sparred Tuesday over the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as the United Nation’s role in establishing the Jewish state.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron, rebuffing the latter’s demand that Israel agree to a unilateral ceasefire in Lebanon.

According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu told Macron that such a move “would not change the security situation in Lebanon and would return the country to its previous state.”

Netanyahu also expressed dismay at Macron’s plans to host a summit in Paris on the war between Israel and Hezbollah, inviting leaders from countries including South Africa and Algeria.

The South African government has accused Israel of genocide in a petition to the International Court of Justice, with Algeria seconding the motion.

Also on Tuesday, Macron chided Netanyahu, telling cabinet ministers the Israeli leader must respect United Nations decisions, and not pressure the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) to evacuate from southern Lebanon.

“Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the UN,” Macron was quoted as saying by a participant in the meeting who spoke with AFP.

“Therefore this is not the time to disregard the decisions of the UN.”

Israel declared its independence on May 14th, 1948, as the British Mandate for Palestine, established by the League of Nations after World War II, lapsed.

A non-binding resolution passed by the UN General Assembly on November 29th, 1947 – UN Resolution 181 – recommended the partition of the Mandate into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone under UN custodianship.

While the leadership of the Jewish Agency for Palestine gave qualified support for the plan, it was rejected by the Mandate’s Arab Higher Committee and the Arab League, and was never adopted.

Netanyahu rebutted Macron’s comments in a statement issued Tuesday, noting that Israel was not established by the non-binding UN resolution.

“A reminder to the French President: It was not a UN 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.”

“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.”

Benjamin NetanyahuEmmanuel MacronFranceLebanon