How Does France Support the Israeli Occupation in Killing the Palestinian People?

France’s longstanding military collaboration with the Israeli Occupation, marked by weapon development programs and arms provision, has drawn criticism from activists who urge President Emmanuel Macron to halt these armaments.

This partnership is seen as a contributing factor to the conflict in Gaza.

On October 16, 2023, Palestinian unions issued a global plea for support, urging the international community to cease military aid to the Israeli Occupation.

Advocating Movements

The unions’ message highlighted the intensification of the Israeli Occupation’s military actions and called for an end to complicity in these acts through the cessation of arms trade and military funding.

The appeal emphasized the necessity of global solidarity to counteract what they termed a genocide, asserting that only through such unity could the Israeli military’s advances be curbed.

The unions appealed to the global community to reject weapon manufacturing for the Israeli Occupation and to confront companies aiding in Gaza’s blockade.

In France, this call resonated, leading to the formation of a group advocating for the cessation of arms supply to the Israeli Occupation.

This group, named “Stop Arming Israel,” has since organized protests targeting major French arms manufacturers, aiming to disrupt military equipment supply and development partnerships with "Israel."

The campaign’s most recent effort on March 11 spanned approximately 12 French locations.

Loic, the group’s coordinator, detailed their demonstrations at arms company headquarters, including Safran Defense in Paris, known for its military and offensive weaponry.

The group’s actions extended to cities like Lyon, Marseille, Saint-Nazaire, and Toulouse, targeting other arms firms and EU industrial complexes.

Loic traced the group’s inception to the Palestinian unions’ call, noting that Stop Arming Israel was established on November 15, 2023, in response.

Since then, they have conducted 30 protests to pressure arms manufacturers and the French government to discontinue arming the Israeli Occupation.

Civil Solidarity

On March 14, the French General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union released a statement declaring solidarity with activists striving to halt arms supplies to “Israel.”

The CGT urged for an “immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza” and a prohibition on arms deliveries to the Israeli military. It further advocated for a “widespread mobilization to terminate the occupation and achieve enduring peace in Palestine.”

Meanwhile, the French NGO Platform for Palestine, an alliance of French human rights groups supporting the Palestinian cause, has called for clarity on military ties between France and the Israeli Occupation, suggesting that absent such transparency, France should cease such cooperation.

The platform previously stated, “Without mechanisms to track the flow of military expertise between Israel and France, the cessation of such exchanges must be declared until transparency is established.”

The collective of organizations intensifies its plea to stop arming “Israel,” contending that “without a way to confirm that military hardware shipped to Israel isn’t employed by its army or assimilated into systems used against Palestinians, the exports must end.”

The military relationship between France and the Israeli Occupation dates back to the Israeli Occupation’s early days, with France significantly backing the nascent Israeli state, including the provision of Mirage fighters, as part of a joint campaign with the UK against Egypt in 1956.

Moreover, France played a pivotal role in establishing the Israeli Occupation’s nuclear capabilities following Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s 1954 visit to Paris, where he inked a military cooperation agreement with France, encompassing nuclear technology provision.

In 1957, Paris and “Tel Aviv” formalized diplomatic and technical accords, effectively initiating the Israeli Occupation’s clandestine nuclear endeavor, overseen by Shimon Peres and financed through covert Israeli defense budget allocations.

France contributed nuclear technology, training, enriched uranium, and a 24-megawatt reactor to Israel, laying the groundwork for the Dimona reactor in 1958.

Dominique Vidal, a French historian and journalist, corroborates these accounts, stating, “Between 1948 and 1958, France stood as Israel’s principal ally, waging war alongside Israel and the UK in 1956.”

Vidal said in media statements that during this period, France pledged to equip “Israel” with nuclear weaponry capabilities, including atomic and hydrogen bombs.

However, the Franco-Israeli rapport swiftly deteriorated, particularly after President Charles de Gaulle condemned the Israeli Occupation’s 1967 preemptive strike on Egypt. Vidal notes, “It was General de Gaulle’s ascent to power in 1958 that marked the beginning of the rift between France and Israel.”

He elucidates that “the schism widened post-1967 war, profoundly impacting de Gaulle, who had forewarned Israeli Prime Minister Ben-Gurion against initiating conflict.”

Vidal concludes, “Hence, following Israel’s air raid on Egypt on June 5, 1967, de Gaulle promptly imposed an arms embargo on Israel, significantly impacting its military capabilities, as it heavily relied on French weaponry.”

Second-Largest Arms Exporter

Despite an embargo by France, the Israeli Occupation managed to produce the Nesher jet, a replica of the French Mirage 5.

Records suggest covert assistance from Dassault, despite the de Gaulle government’s ban, lifted in 1974. However, post-embargo exports never matched the peak levels of the 1950s and 60s.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) latest report ranks France as the world’s second-largest arms exporter in 2023, with sales reaching 27 billion euros, capturing 30% of the global military equipment market.

This success is attributed to France’s defense industry, comprising around 9 major firms and over 4,000 smaller entities, generating roughly 30 billion euros annually.

Yet, France’s arms exports to the Israeli Occupation are modest relative to its global arms trade. The advocacy group Stop Arming Israel notes that France averages 20 million euros in annual military sales to the Israeli Occupation.

These figures saw a slight increase in 2022, reaching 25.6 million euros, up from 19.4 million euros the previous year.

The French Parliament’s arms export report reveals that in 2022, France issued approximately 69 arms export licenses to the Israeli Occupation, totaling about 358 million euros.

Beyond exports, France’s involvement in Palestinian bloodshed extends to a decade-long collaboration with Israeli firms, developing weaponry and military tech, including espionage and surveillance systems, drones, and AI for warfare.

A 2021 Orion 21 investigation uncovered secretive joint French–Israeli initiatives to create next-gen warfare tools, integrating digital command, drones, and robots, under the enigmatic Scorpion project.

Co-engineered with Elbit Systems, Scorpion is a digital command network linking soldiers and new military tech for preemptive enemy engagement.

Moreover, the Stop Arming Israel coordinator revealed collaborations between French Safran and Israeli Elbit on the Hermes drone, heavily utilized in Gaza conflicts. Safran also aimed to develop a drone-targeting combat scope in partnership with Israeli firms.

French arms sales to “Israel” also occur indirectly via subsidiaries outside France, like Thales UK, supplying parts for Elbit’s Hermes 450 drone; Nexter Italy, selling missiles; and MBDA Germany’s cooperation with Israeli defense companies.