Macron calls for arms embargo on Israel: “It is a priority to return to a political solution”

French President Emmanuel Macron called for an end to arms shipments to Israel, citing recent civilian deaths in Gaza and Lebanon. Stating that France has ended the shipment of weapons used in the conflicts in Gaza, where more than 41,000 civilians have died, and more than 2,000 civilians have died in Lebanon since October 7, 2023, Macron called on the international community to take a similar stance.

“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron told France Inter radio. He also stressed that France was no longer sending weapons to Israel, adding: “France is not delivering any” weapons to Israel.

Macron’s statement added a new dimension to the debate over France’s arms exports to Israel. In April, Sebastien Lecornu, the French Minister responsible for the armed forces, stated that France’s defense exports to Israel accounted for only 0.2% of the country’s total defense budget.

It was stated that only 15 million euros of the 2022 defense budget of 27 billion euros was used for arms deliveries to Israel.

International pressure on Israel is intensifying

Macron’s statement reflects concerns that have long been voiced by groups and parties in France. In an open letter to Macron in February, Jean-Claude Samouiller, head of Amnesty International in France, called for the immediate suspension of “the export of arms and war materials as well as the issuance or renewal of export licenses for the latter to Israel”. Meanwhile, members of parliament from the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party have long criticized the French government’s military exports to Israel. Unlike other parties, LFI restrained from calling the October 7 attack a “terrorist” attack.

Macron’s stance is also in contrast to the United States’ (US) approach to Israel. The US provides Israel with $3.8 billion of military aid each year under a 10-year agreement. This contradiction once again highlights the differences in the Middle-East policies of Europe and the US.

Protests lead to the statement

As French President Emmanuel Macron made this statement, thousands of people gathered in central Paris to hold demonstrations demanding an end to the Israeli massacre in Gaza and Lebanon.

Not only in Paris, but also in Rome, Brussels, London, and Athens, thousands of protesters took to the streets on the same day to demand an end to the conflict in Gaza. These mass demonstrations revealed the international community’s increasing sensitivity to the violence in the region.