Netanyahu accused of slander after criticising Macron, Carney and Starmer
Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of slander and pursuing a war without end after he claimed the leaders of France, Canada and the UK were stoking antisemitism and siding with Hamas by demanding he end the two-month blockade of food and aid into Gaza.
In what has become an extraordinary standoff with some of Israel’s closest allies, Netanyahu appeared to deliberately raise the stakes on Thursday night by accusing his western critics of abandoning Israel in a war for its very existence.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, also sought to link the killing of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington to the recent criticism mounted by European leaders.
He did not identify the countries, but the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, this week described some of Israel’s recent actions as extremist and abominable.
Netanyahu’s language was seen by his own government as a warranted riposte to a joint statement issued on Monday by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, calling on Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza that has already claimed 3,000 lives since it restarted in March.
In a post on X on Thursday evening, the Israeli prime minister said Hamas wanted to “destroy the Jewish state” and “annihilate the Jewish people”.
“I could never understand how this simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others,” Netanyahu said.
“I say to President Macron, Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Starmer, when mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers thank you, you’re on the wrong side of justice.”
Netanyahu said the actions of those leaders were not “advancing peace” but “emboldening Hamas to continue fighting for ever”.
He went on to blame a recent claim by the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, that thousands of babies would die imminently in Gaza if Israel did not immediately let in aid for the attack in Washington. “A few days ago, a top UN official said that 14,000 Palestinian babies would die in 48 hours. You see many international institutions are complicit in spreading this lie,” he said.
“The press repeats it. The mob believed it. And a young couple is then brutally gunned down in Washington.”
UN officials had to retract Fletcher’s claim of deaths within 48 hours by saying he was referring to a UN technical report on food insecurity classification that said 14,100 severe cases of acute malnutrition could occur among children aged six to 59 months between April 2025 and March 2026. The report’s timeframe is one year and not two days, as mentioned by Fletcher.
In France, the foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, described Netanyahu’s allegations of antisemitism as defamatory. “Accusing of encouraging antisemitism or [supporting] Hamas whoever defends the two-state solution is absurd and slanderous,” Barrot said in a statement posted on X. [Continue reading…]
On Wednesday, four Canadians were part of a delegation with European counterparts on a visit to the occupied West Bank when Israeli soldiers opened fire on them. In response, Canada demanded a full investigation and an immediate explanation, calling it “totally unacceptable”. Israel said it “regrets the inconvenience”.
While French President Emmanuel Macron has long been the most critical of the three, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suspended trade negotiations with Israel this week and rolled out sanctions on leading voices in the Israeli settler movement.
Canada, on the other hand, has offered rebukes before, but it has largely tried not to upset Israel’s foremost backer on its southern border: the United States. [Continue reading…]