PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday night that if there are not changes to his government’s far-reaching plans to overhaul the judicial system, “Paris should conclude that Israel has emerged from a common conception of democracy,” a French official confirmed.
Macron’s remarks, which were not included in the French readout of the meeting at the Elysee Palace, were first reported by Le Monde. A French official verified the report to The Times of Israel.
At the meeting, Macron “expressed bluntly” that the proposed judicial shakeup table “threatens to break the power of the Supreme Court, the only institutional counter-power in the government.”
The French president also said the proposal “opens a crisis unprecedented since the birth of the state in 1948.”
The sit-down, the first between the two leaders since Netanyahu returned to power in late December, had all the trappings of a warm encounter, despite the harsh warning. After Netanyahu arrived, he and Macron embraced on the palace steps before waving to the cameras.
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According to the Elysee, Macron blasted Iran’s “headlong rush” to develop its nuclear program. Netanyahu meanwhile urged France to back enhanced sanctions against Iran and to increase deterrence against the Islamic Republic and its proxies during talks.
Before taking off for Paris earlier Thursday, Netanyahu said that the focus of his conversations with Macron would be “our joint efforts to stop Iran’s aggression and its drive toward a nuclear weapon.”
However, Macron also pressed Netanyahu on rising violence between Israel and the Palestinians, urging Israel to avoid “any measures that could fuel the spiral of violence,” the palace said.
Macron called Netanyahu on Monday to express condolences over a deadly terror attack that killed seven Israelis and injured three in Jerusalem on Friday. The two decided on the visit during the conversation.
They last met in Jerusalem in January 2020.
