A sign of a rift betweeen Emmanuel Macron and the Jewish community ?

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier paid tribute to the victims and hostages.

Over the weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in favor of halting the supply of weapons to Israel for use in the “fighting in Gaza”. A statement that has been very badly received by the French Jewish community, always sensitive to any harm being done to the State of Israel. A Jewish community that had already been upset by the absence of the French president at a march in Paris against the rise of antisemitism in November 2023.

Macron made his latest statement two days after an Iranian ballistic missiles attack against Israel, on the eve of the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre and as Jews are celebrating the New Year.

This provoked the ire of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, in a video posted on X, said that Emmanuel Macron and other Western leaders with similar views “should be ashamed of themselves”. ‘’Does Iran impose an arms embargo on Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas and its other proxies? Of course not. This axis of terror is united”, he asked.

The Élysée Palace deplored Benjamin Netanyahu’s “excessive” words and assured that France remained “Israel’s unfailing friend”.

Earlier this year, Israeli defense companies were banned by the French government from exhibiting at an annual major arms fair near Paris, a decision which was then attributed to President Macron.

On Monday, as a new sign of the the Jewish community’s displeasure with Macron,  the mere mention of his name was loudly booed at a ceremony organized by Crif, the umbrella representative body of French Jewish institutions,  in memory of the 7th October victims and in support of the hostages, including two Franco-Israelis, still held captives by Hamas. Around 4,000 attended this ceremony in Paris.

‘’Something has broken down between the President of the Republic and France’s Jewish community. Emmanuel Macron’s stance on supplying arms to Israel is a betrayal we can neither forget nor forgive,’’ a member of the community who attended the ceremony told European Jewish Press.

Invited to speak at the ceremony, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier declared : ‘’You can count on the President of the Republic, on the Prime Minister and  on all the members of the government to protect our compatriots of the Jewish faith.

In reference to Macron’s call to end the supply of weapons to Israel, some spectators in the hall even shouted “weapons”.

The president’s name was once again booed when Barnier assured the audience that Macron was “doing everything in his power” to “get the hostages released”. Earlier, the President had used the same words when speaking to the hostages’ families at the Élysée Palace

“We will not let anything pass. A hundred people are still being held hostage by Hamas, including two French-Israeli  hostages”, declared the Prime Minister.

“France will never abandon its children in the face of the horror of this terrorist attack, of this barbarity that France has condemned from day one in the face of the relentless attacks by Hezbollah and Iran,” he hammered.

Barnier also spoke of “the situation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank (which) also shocks our conscience”, and deplored the “victims”, including civilians “on both sides of the border with Lebanon”. He reiterated that France would support “any initiative enabling us, in strict respect for Israel’s existence and security (…) to move towards a two-state solution, which is the key to lasting peace”.

Macron’s statement on arms supply to Israel came only months after Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a meeting with the French President announced an investment of 10 billion euros in strategic sectors of the French economy. Qatar who is currently hosting the political leadership of Hamas is also one of the main sponsors of the terrorist organisation.

France was one out of 13 EU member states which voted for the UN resolution on September 18 whereas a small majority (14 EU-member states) either abstained or voted against the resolution.

In his speech, Barnier condemned anti-Semitism “in the street, at work, at school and on social networks”. “We will not let anything pass,’’ he said, proposing to “(reinforce) the means mobilized” and to “(make) progress on the detection of these acts” by entrusting this work to the Minister of Justice Didier Migaud and his Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, present at the ceremony along with some fifteen ministers, and also encouraged “the education of pupils in our schools, through constant dialogue with associations”.

Macron’s statement came only months after Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a meeting with the French President announced an investment of 10 billion euros in strategic sectors of the French economy. Qatar who is currently hosting the political leadership of Hamas is also one of the main sponsors of the terrorist organisation. France was one out of 13 EU member states which voted for the UN resolution on September 18 whereas a small majority (14 EU-member states) either abstained or voted against the resolution.

Macron’s call for an end to arms supply reminds French President Charles de Gaulle’s decision to order an arms embargo against Israel on the eve of the Six Day war in June 1967.

A report on arms exports presented to Parliament by the Ministry of Defense in July 2023 shows that France has issued 767 export licenses to Israel since 2015.

France sells an average of €20 million worth of military equipment to Israel every year.

France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs Jean-Noël Barrot, who visited Israel Monday to attend commemoration services for the victims of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, declared : “To ensure Israel’s security and that of Israelis, the use of force must give way to dialogue and diplomacy. For this reason, France, like most of the countries in the world, is calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. And when one calls for a ceasefire, one cannot simultaneously provide arms to the warring parties. It’s a question of coherence,.’’

Macron in his remark did not cite Israel’s alleged interests in calling for an embargo on it, saying only that it was to “return to a political solution.”

Crif deeply regretted Macron’s call for an embargo and stated that ‘’the call to deny Israel weapons does not promote peace but plays directly into the hands of Hamas and Hezbollah.”