(Paris) Growing tensions around Iran and Israeli-Palestinian violence will be at the heart of a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expected Thursday in Paris.
Mr. Netanyahu “will discuss the international effort to stop the Iranian nuclear program and ways to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords” normalizing relations between Israel and some Arab countries, according to the Israeli Embassy in Paris.
According to the Élysée, President Macron “will once again express France’s solidarity with Israel in the face of terrorism”, “will recall the need for everyone to avoid measures likely to fuel the cycle of violence, and will express his readiness to contribute to the resumption of dialogue between the Palestinians and the Israelis”.
The two leaders will meet for dinner, but no public speaking is planned.
For several days, violence between Israelis and Palestinians has caused dozens of victims.
Last Thursday, ten people, fighters and civilians, died in an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp, the deadliest in years in the West Bank.
Seven civilians died Friday in a Palestinian attack in East Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel. And on Saturday a Palestinian injured two Israelis, a father and his son, also in East Jerusalem, before being injured and arrested. In the West Bank, Israeli guards killed a Palestinian on Sunday and Israeli forces killed a Palestinian on Monday.
Israel “cuts the Ukrainian card”
The Israeli side wishes above all to focus this visit on Iran, hoping in particular that its growing involvement in the war between Russia and Ukraine (the mullahs’ regime is a major supplier of equipment to Russia) will push Westerners to accentuate pressure on Tehran, Israel’s pet peeve.
Iran, which regularly calls for the eradication of the Jewish state, accuses its sworn enemy of being behind several attacks on its own soil against its nuclear program (which Israel has never acknowledged) or in neighboring Syria , an ally of Tehran, where Israel regularly conducts airstrikes against Iranian interests.
Paris considers a policy of “very firmness” towards Iran necessary, according to a diplomatic source, because “the nuclear program is continuing at a dangerous point” and Iran is involved in the war of Ukraine in Europe.
This involvement of Tehran in a war in Europe allows Mr. Netanyahu to hope “to consolidate an anti-Iranian front”, explains David Khalfa, Co-Director of the North Africa and Middle East Observatory of the Jean Jaures Foundation.
It aims in particular at an “increase in sanctions against Tehran and the complete blacklisting of the Revolutionary Guards”, in their civilian and military component, an option for the moment refused by both Paris and Berlin, he explains. he.
For several months, Iran has become an increasingly important player in the war in Ukraine, supplying numerous drones to Moscow, even as nuclear negotiations have stalled and Iran has several foreigners considered as hostages by Western capitals.
Benyamin Netanyahu “is in the process of knocking the Ukrainian card” out of his game, explains David Khalfa, negotiating a change in Israeli posture on Ukraine in exchange for European support on Iran.
The prime minister announced what appears to be a significant shift in strategy on Wednesday, saying he is now ready to consider supplying arms to Ukraine.
Until now, Israel had taken care to remain neutral between the two belligerents, in particular because of the presence of the Russian army deployed in Syria, giving leverage to Moscow.
Israel must in particular take into account the presence in this neighboring country of Russian anti-aircraft systems, threatening its military air operations over Syria.
rule of law
In addition to this diplomatic component, Mr. Netanyahu “will meet leading businessmen in France in the financial field and hold a meeting with leaders of the Jewish community”, according to the embassy. He will leave France on Saturday evening.
Having come to power in December at the head of a coalition combining right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, whose detractors fear an anti-democratic drift, the government of Mr. Netanyahu faces protest from certain sectors of society. Israel, including the financial sector.
Some companies have said they are ready to leave Israel, believing that the planned judicial reform would create instability affecting their activity. The Prime Minister notably met last week with the heads of the big banks to try to reassure them.