Macron is using the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the Iran-Israel standoff not out of genuine concern, but as tools to pander to the Muslim world and a way to preserve French trade with Iran. Op-ed.
With the war raging between Iran and Israel, few news items beyond reports from the battlefront itself make it into international headlines. The recent G7 Summit in Canada was one event that did manage to breach that barrier, mostly relating to provocative statements and/or actions by Donald Trump. Such, for example, was his decision to leave the Conference after barely a day, and his vehement verbal assault on French President Emmanuel Macron.
Deserved disdain
Trump ridiculed Macron’s assessment of the reasons for his abrupt departure. According to Macron, this was to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel, hinting that this would entail US pressure on Israel. Trump scornfully dismissed Macron’s statement: “Publicity‑seeking President Emmanuel Macron of France mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit…to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran…Wrong!” and jeered: “Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong…”
The disdain evident in Trump’s reaction has been well-earned by Macron due to dubious shenanigans over recent years, raising grave doubts regarding his intentions, competence, and motivation. (In the fourth quarter of 2024, France’s exports to Iran totaled €60.3 million, while imports from Iran were €11.2 million, resulting in a trade surplus of €49, ed.). Indeed, one historian, cited in the New York Times, dismissed him as “… neither consequential nor coherent.”
In previous articles, I pointed to his shady dealings with Hezbollah affiliates and his veering away from mainstream Western foreign policy in an apparent attempt to find favor with a growing Muslim segment in the French electorate. Indeed, Macron has also been a leading figure in promoting an arms embargo against an embattled Israel, locked in a mortal, multi-front battle against the forces of Islamic terror. In an uncalled-for admonition, Macron had the brazen gall to accuse Israel of “sowing barbarism” in its struggle to repel the naked barbarism of its enemies.
Gallic gall
France has also been leading the push for a Palestinian Arab state, and until recently, was supposed to co-chair a UN conference this month aimed at advancing the goal of Palestinian Arab statehood. Not only would this profoundly undermine Israeli security, but, in the wake of the October 7th massacre, it would have constituted a resounding reward for terror and barbarism. Indeed, the Trump administration strongly disapproved of the move, discouraging other governments from attending the conference and reportedly warning that any “anti-Israel actions” taken after the conference could be followed by diplomatic consequences from Washington.
Fortunately, the conference has been delayed due to Israel’s preemptive strikes in Iran.
But the catalogue of Paris’s ill-founded malevolence goes on to include the latest act of Gallic gall—the puerile decision to obstruct the view of some Israeli weapon systems at the country’s pavilion at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget by means of black boards. This comes in the wake of two earlier (illegal) attempts last year to preclude Israeli participation in high-profile French arms exhibitions (Eurosatry, and Euronaval). This latest move was aimed particularly at offensive systems which have been used with great effect around the world.
Money, not morals
Informed sources suggested that the latest anti-Israeli obstructionist measures were not motivated by high-minded concern spurred by the alleged misuse of Israeli weapons but by purely commercial ones, designed to prevent Israel from displaying superior merchandise competing with French-produced systems. Indeed, the French military industry recently took a hit after French-manufactured Rafale jets were reportedly outperformed by Chinese J-10Cs in a recent Indian-Pakistani aerial engagement in Kashmir, which negatively impacted share prices of major French armaments corporations.
Paradoxically—and perhaps predictably—Israel radio reported that the latest French measure succeeded only in piquing the interest of potential purchasers.
Of course, when it comes to humanitarian concerns, France has little room to claim the moral high ground given its brutal record in its former colonies from Indo-China, through Oceania to Central and North-West Africa, where even today the post-independence governments are chafing at the bit to rid themselves of lingering French dominance and military presence.
Pathetic pandering
This leaves the troubling question as to what prompted this poorly timed display of animus by France. According to some sources, at least part of the answer may lie in a recent report, initiated by the French government, that warned that the rapidly growing Muslim influence is becoming a national threat. These sources suggest that by Paris’s newly accentuated pro-Palestinian pivot, Macron is hoping not only to curry favor with, but also placate—this increasingly influential Islamic constituency.
It is indeed disheartening to witness French kowtowing to the same dark forces that barely a decade ago perpetrated acts of barbaric slaughter on the streets of Paris (Charlie Hebdo, Bataclan), preferring instead to sanction the very country, that more than any other, has acted to confront and contain the scourge menacing both nations.
Martin Sherman spent seven years in operational capacities in the Israeli defense establishment. He is the founder of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a member of the Habithonistim-Israel Defense & Security Forum (IDSF) research team, and a participant in the Israel Victory Project.
