Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused France, Britain and Canada of leaders wanting to help Palestinian militant group Hamas if Israel does not block its latest Gaza offensive after threatening to take “concrete actions”.
Criticism echoes similar remarks by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday as part of the Israeli government’s battle against growing international pressure on the Gaza conflict.
“You are in the wrongs of humanity, and you are in the wrongs of history,” Netanyahu said.
As images of destruction and hunger flow in Gaza have intensified protests in countries around the world, Israel has been working to change world public opinion, which is increasingly opposed to it.
“It's hard to convince at least in some countries in the United States and Europe that what Israel is doing is a national defense war, and that's hard to convince,” said Yaki Dayan, a former Israeli diplomat.
“But that's how it's considered in Israel, and closing this gap is sometimes an impossible task,” he said.
Israeli officials are particularly concerned about the appeals to European countries, including France, to follow others like Spain and Ireland to recognize the Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to the decades of conflict in the region.
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Netanyahu believes a Palestinian state will threaten Israel and kill two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington on Tuesday, a man allegedly shouting “Free Palestine”, is a clear example.
He said that on October 7, 2023, Hamas heard “the exact same chanting” while attacking Israel.
“They don't want the Palestinian state. They want to destroy the Jewish state,” he said in a statement on social media platform X.
“I can never understand how this simple fact can escape the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others,” he said, adding that Western countries acknowledge that any move by the Palestinian state would “reward these murderers the final award.”
Instead of promoting peace, the three leaders “encouraging Hamas to continue fighting.”
The Israeli leadership's government relies on the support of the far-right. Hamas said he welcomed the move and expressed his gratitude to French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canada's Mark Carney, who said what they need to end the conflict immediately.
The leader’s statement on Monday did not call for an immediate end to the conflict, but instead stopped Israel’s new military offensive against Gaza and lifted its restrictions on humanitarian aid. Israel has blocked aid from entering Gaza since March, before easing the lockdown this week.
“By issuing their demand – full of sanctions threats against Israel, rather than Hamas – these three leaders effectively expressed that they want Hamas to remain in power,” Netanyahu said.
“They hope they want to build a second Palestinian state and Hamas will once again seek to destroy the Jewish state.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, like Britain and Canada, “a firm commitment to Israel's security.”
He said it was a decision to fight anti-Semitism and accused supporters of the two-state solution of encouraging anti-Semitism or Hamas “absurd and slander.”
When asked about Netanyahu's remarks, British Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said London stands with Israel's right to self-defense, “but this self-defense must be carried out within the scope of international humanitarian law.”
“At the moment, we are quick to oppose terrorism, but we also want to ensure that aid comes into Gaza,” he told Time Radio.
–Reports by James Mackenzie; other reports by May Angel, Richard Lough of Paris and William James of London; Edited by Philippa Fletcher
