Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed the warning he gave Emmanuel Macron on the day of the October 7 attack — and with France now gripped by riots, the Israeli prime minister's message to Paris is unmistakable: I told you. In excerpts from an exclusive interview with Israel's Channel 14, Netanyahu said Macron phoned him on October 7, 2023, as Hamas's assault was unfolding, and pressed for an immediate ceasefire and a diplomatic solution. Netanyahu says he refused on the spot.
"It's not going to be solved by diplomacy," he recalled telling the French president. "These are monsters. These are neo-Nazis. You don't solve a problem of the SS with diplomacy — you destroy them." He said he told Macron the same thing he had told the German chancellor: the problem is destroyed, not negotiated with.
Then came the warning France is now living. "Hamas is like ISIS — in fact, it's worse in some respects than ISIS, even worse than ISIS," Netanyahu said. "And let me tell you: if we don't stop Hamas here, you'll see them on the streets of Paris. And that's exactly what is happening right now." As unrest and curfews spread across French cities, the interviewer asked the question hanging over the whole exchange: has Macron learned his lesson?
Netanyahu answered by pointing to the French public. "The French people see what's happening in the streets of France," he said, "and probably, as it looks like, it could foster a change in the political makeup of France." Asked directly whether relations with Israel would improve if a right-wing government came to power in Paris, he did not hesitate: "I certainly do — because they understand that they're under threat. Again, it's the common enemy that creates common interests."
Washington has waded into the same crisis. President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Netanyahu ahead of Israel's elections, warned that migrants have "taken over" France and demanded on Truth Social: "They must CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST." The convergence is striking — the American president and the Israeli prime minister now delivering the same verdict on Macron's France, from opposite sides of the Atlantic.
The France exchange is one part of a much wider interview. In other excerpts released by Channel 14, Netanyahu said his directive to the Mossad, the IDF and Israeli military intelligence is to bring down the Iranian regime, said Trump shares the goal of permanently eliminating the Iranian threat, and warned that Iran and its proxies may carry out attacks in an attempt to influence Israel's upcoming elections. Turning to Europe, he argued that the alliance between the "red left" and "green Islam" has devastated both France and Britain, and he claimed that nearly every country in the Middle East and the West — including governments that publicly criticise Israel — privately asks Jerusalem for help.
The full interview, conducted by Sophia Tupolev, airs Tuesday on Channel 14. Judging by the excerpts, its hardest edge is reserved for Paris: a warning issued on October 7, dismissed in the Élysée, and now read back to Macron as the streets of France burn.
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