Benjamin Netanyahu lashes out at Emmanuel Macron for 'surrender' call

French President raises prospect of EU ending co-operation agreements with Israel

French President Emmanuel Macron said 'we cannot continue as if nothing is happening' in Gaza. AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused French President Emmanuel Macron of siding with anti-Semitism on Wednesday, after France's leader called for increased pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.

Speaking on national television, Mr Macron called on the EU to look at its trade agreement with Israel over its 10-week blockade on Gaza, which has left residents of the beleaguered Palestinian enclave facing starvation.

“We cannot continue as if nothing is happening, so we'll have to increase the pressure,” Mr Macron said in an interview with French broadcaster TF1. Mr Macron added that it was an “open question” for Europeans whether “discussions, co-operation agreements with Israel must be continued as they stand”.

The French President is the most high-profile European leader to raise this question. His comments triggered sharp criticism from Mr Netanyahu, accusing France of “once again demanding that Israel surrender and reward terrorism”.

He continued: "Israel will not stop and will not surrender."

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the record of the Second World War demonstrated France “should not preach morality to us”, because "we remember well what happened to the Jews in France when they couldn't defend themselves".

In his TV appearance, Mr Macron said a review of EU-Israel relations has already been requested by the Netherlands. A Dutch request sent earlier this month to the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, asked for a review of Article Two of the association agreement with Israel. Article Two refers to both parties' human rights obligations.

The Dutch government views Israel's blockade, enforced since March 2, as contrary to international humanitarian law. Calls for a review have also been made by Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Finland and Portugal. A downgrading of relations would be detrimental to Israel. The EU is Israel's biggest trading partner.

Mr Netanyahu's actions in Gaza are “shameful”, Mr Macron said. But he also admitted that European pressure on Israel is unlikely to influence its policies.

“Today, we need the US. In truth, the one with leverage is President [Donald] Trump,” Mr Macron said. “I've had very harsh words towards Prime Minister Netanyahu, but France alone, even with other Europeans, we can put all the pressure of the world – he does not depend on us. He depends on US weapons.”

Mr Macron has regularly clashed with Mr Netanyahu in the past year, including at an international conference in New York last June, over the French President's plan to possibly recognise Palestinian statehood. Mr Netanyahu has claimed this would be a “prize for terror”.

Asked why France does not place sanctions on Israel, Mr Macron said he had taken decisions such as restricting weapons exports. “We refused to send them equipment that would allow them to go into combat,” he said. “We give them equipment that allows them to protect themselves, particularly against Iranian fire. So, we've made things much tougher.”

The aftermath of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Wednesday. AFP

Mr Macron talked about Gaza on Tuesday evening as part of a marathon interview on domestic and international affairs. It took place hours after UN aid chief Tom Fletcher criticised an Israel-initiated and US-backed humanitarian aid distribution plan for Gaza as a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians. “It is cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction,” Mr Fletcher told the UN Security Council in New York.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation said Israel's deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid was increasing the risk of famine in Gaza. Famine has not yet been declared, but people are starving now, the WHO said. The risk of starvation was acknowledged by Israeli defence officials in a New York Times report published on Tuesday.

The Israeli military has said it is ready to continue its occupation of Gaza with “full force” in the coming days. Israel says it is working on finding countries to take Palestinians forcibly removed from the enclave, according to Mr Netanyahu. Forced displacement is contrary to international law and has been rejected by European and Arab states.

Israel has killed more than 52,900 Gazans in the war triggered by Hamas-led attacks in October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and about 240 abducted.