Gallant accused France of having “adopted hostile policies towards Israel”.

Israeli Foreign Ministry called Gallant’s remarks against France “inappropriate”.

The defense minister’s statement came after French authorities last month banned Israeli defense firms from exhibiting at the  Eurosatory defense show near Paris.

Senior Israeli Foreign Ministry officials denounced on  Friday  Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s remarks rejecting the principle of a “trilateral” working format between France, the United States and Israel to contain tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border, announced the day before by French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit.

Gallant accused France of having “adopted hostile policies towards Israel”.

“We are fighting a just war, we are defending our people, and France has adopted hostile policies towards Israel,” the Defense Minister said in a statement. “Israel will not participate in the trilateral proposed by France,” he added.

”Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France,” he wrote.

Gallant’s remarks were made after Macron announced the three countries had agreed to work together to step up efforts to push forward a roadmap presented by Paris earlier this year to de-escalate the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been growing in intensity since the Lebanese terror group began attacking the north following Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

The defense minister’s statement came after French authorities last month banned Israeli defense firms from exhibiting at Eurosatory, one of the world’s largest defense fairs which will take place near Paris , amid growing calls to limit arms sales to the Israeli army  and divest from Israeli defense companies on the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza.

The Foreign Ministry officials, quoted by the Israeli media, said :  “We disapprove of Defense Minister Gallant’s attacks on France.’’

“Beyond the existing disagreements between Israel and France, the statements against France are incorrect and inappropriate,” they added.

The  Israeli Foreign Ministry pointed out that France played “an active role” in Israel’s defense against Iran’s drone and missile attack in April.

“Since the beginning of the war, France has adopted a clear line of denunciation and sanctions against Hamas, and an aggressive line in all matters concerning EU sanctions against Iran and its missile and drone project, and has also been a partner in the IAEA Board of Governors’ decision to advance a sanctions process against Iran’s nuclear program.”

The  Ministry added that the French authorities vigorously combat anti-Semitism and protect Jews.

French officials reacted by saying that they were ‘’surprised to read the contradictory statements by the Israeli authorities on France’s efforts to de-escalate in the North. We remain ready to work with all the players concerned, including Israel and the United States, to this end.’’

“France shares Israel’s pain and sorrow since the barbaric terrorist attacks of October 7. 46 French nationals were killed in these attacks, including 2 French hostages. 2 French nationals are still being held in Gaza. France once again calls on Hamas to release all remaining hostages and reaffirms its firm commitment to Israel’s security”, the officials added.