Netanyahu blames France protests on ‘extremist Islam’ without offering evidence
The Israeli prime minister criticised French leaders after weekend unrest and urged them to fight extremists. France is preparing a larger police deployment for further protests.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed France’s recent protest unrest on what he called an ‘invasion of extremist Islam’ in remarks reported on Tuesday, October 20, by Hindustan Times in an AFP dispatch. The claim, for which he offered no evidence, came as French authorities planned a larger police deployment for further demonstrations after weekend riots.
Speaking in an interview carried by French-language channel i24News, Netanyahu accused French leaders of failing to prepare for the unrest, according to AFP’s account of the interpreter’s French translation. He said they had ‘simply gave up’ and ‘succumbed to the invasion of extremist Islam’. AFP described a diverse mix of people taking part in demonstrations across French cities, including Paris, and reported no evidence for Netanyahu’s assertion that extremist Muslims had fuelled the protests.
Asked what advice he would give France, Netanyahu urged its leaders to ‘fight back’ against extremists instead of pursuing what he called appeasement. He did not specify what action he wanted France to take. Netanyahu also said he had warned President Emmanuel Macron after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack that failing to eliminate Hamas in Israel would mean having it in Paris. AFP said he provided no evidence for that connection.
France prepares for more protests
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told lawmakers on Tuesday that police deployment for the following Saturday would be ‘massive’, Deutsche Welle reported. Organisers had announced further protests, and Lecornu said the previous weekend’s security operation had been too static. He said 1,000 police officers and gendarmes had been injured nationwide over the weekend, and argued that better support for security forces was needed both to allow peaceful demonstrations and to maintain order.
US President Donald Trump also blamed immigration for the French protests, telling reporters in Washington on Monday that he had urged Macron to close France’s borders, AFP reported. The claims from Trump and Netanyahu came amid tensions between Israel and France: France recognised Palestinian statehood last year, a move that angered Israel. Netanyahu had previously called Britain an ‘Islamic republic’ in August, remarks London condemned as unacceptable.
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Sources and context
- Netanyahu derides France as 'extremist Islam' haven after protestsHindustan Times (AFP feed)
- France plans 'massive' weekend police surge amid protestsDeutsche Welle
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.