Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused France of having “succumbed to the invasion of extremist Islam” following violent incidents and looting over the weekend, in an interview with French-language television network i24News.
“They were not prepared in time; they simply gave up and succumbed to the invasion of extremist Islam,” Netanyahu said, according to the French translation provided by the interpreter.
Asked what advice he would give France, Netanyahu urged the country to take a tougher approach. “Fight, do not appease, fight the extremists,” he told the interviewer.
Netanyahu also said he had warned French President Emmanuel Macron following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.
“If we do not eliminate them here, you will have them in Paris,” Netanyahu recalled telling Macron. “And that is exactly what is happening.”
Netanyahu’s rhetoric echoes arguments frequently advanced by far-right politicians and commentators in Western countries. They have claimed, without substantiated evidence, that some European areas have come under Islamic law because of their migrant populations, prompting accusations of Islamophobia.
Relations between France and Israel have deteriorated since Paris formally recognised the State of Palestine in September 2025. At the time, Netanyahu accused Macron of “adding fuel to the fire of antisemitism” in France.
(Source: AMNA)
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