French FM backs Macron’s calls for arms ban, argues it’s for Israel’s security
‘When we call for a ceasefire, we cannot at the same time provide offensive weapons to the belligerents,’ Jean-Noel Barrot says as he meets various Israeli officials
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday doubled down on French President Emmanuel Macron’s call last week for a partial arms embargo on Israel during a press conference in Jerusalem.
“Today, to guarantee the security of Israel, to guarantee the security of the Israelis, the use of force must give way to the use of dialogue and diplomacy,” he said in French.
“And this is why France, like most countries in the world, is calling in Gaza as in Lebanon, for a ceasefire. And when we call for a ceasefire, we cannot at the same time provide offensive weapons to the belligerents. It is a question of consistency.”
Macron had said on Saturday that countries should not be providing Israel with weapons that could be used in its war with Hamas in Gaza, leading to tensions with Jerusalem.
Barrot’s comments came after he held “dense and constructive meetings” on Monday with his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz and with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a French diplomatic official told The Times of Israel.
Discussions focused on Iran, Lebanon and Gaza, said the diplomat, instead of on the French calls for a ban on arms exports to Israel, “on which disagreement was acknowledged.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had blasted Macron’s comments, calling them “a disgrace.” Macron defended the statements in a phone call with Netanyahu in which he insisted France is committed to Israeli security, while the Israeli leader said Israel expects its allies to “stand behind it” and not “place limitations on it that only strengthen the Iranian terror axis.”
Barrot stressed the need to avoid an escalation against Iran which could lead to a regional war. “Our Israeli interlocutors assured such was not their wish,” said the diplomat.
They also discussed Lebanon, and according to the diplomat, there was a “shared desire to deepen the talks within the context of French efforts toward ending the war.”
The sides disagreed over the role of the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip after the war.
In his meetings in Ramallah, said the diplomat, Barrot heard PA officials lay out the security, financial and political challenges facing the organizations. They also presented to Barrot the reforms the PA had undertaken recently and urged France to recognize Palestine as a country.
Israel has been at war with Hamas in Gaza for a year, since the terrorist organization’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 40,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
On its northern border, Israel is continuing its ground incursion in southern Lebanon where it aims to eliminate Hezbollah infrastructure near the border. The terror group has launched near-daily rocket and drone attacks at Israel since last October, in support of Hamas in Gaza.
Israel says it has widened operations against Hezbollah to enable the safe return to their homes in the north of some 60,000 Israeli civilians who were evacuated when the Iran-backed terror group began its attacks.