Israel sharply rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday after he used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to criticise Israeli actions in the West Bank, setting off a heated diplomatic exchange on the sidelines of the world body's annual gathering in New York.

In what he described as his final speech as president to the UNGA, Macron deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza — the territory from which Hamas launched the October 7, 2023 attacks, the deadliest ever against Israel — and condemned what he called daily violations in the West Bank, a territory Israel seized during the 1967 war and where the Palestinian Authority holds semi-autonomy in major urban areas. "What is our credibility worth if we remain inactive on Gaza? Some claim that peace has been achieved, but this has not opened up humanitarian deliveries. It is a spectacle that shames us all," Macron said. He added: "Look at what is happening in West Bank, where there are violations every day. In the name of what? Hamas has never struck in the West Bank."

Israel's response was swift and pointed. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to deliver his own address to the UN on Thursday, called Macron's statement a "grotesque absurdity." "Hamas terrorists carry out attacks against Jews almost every day. They have murdered countless Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria," the statement read, using the Biblical name for the West Bank. Netanyahu's office highlighted the shooting death on Sunday — the eve of Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day — of Netanel Shukrun, an Israeli settler and father of six who also held French citizenship. The Palestinian gunman was arrested at a hospital, and Israeli troops subsequently raided his village. A minister in Netanyahu's government called for the suspect's execution under a new law. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also weighed in, writing on social media that it was "hard to imagine a more out of touch with reality speech" than Macron's.

The dispute reflects a broader and deepening rift between Israel and some of its traditional Western partners. The UN has documented approximately six settler-related violent incidents against Palestinians or their property daily in the West Bank through mid-2026 — a context Macron and others cite when questioning Israel's justification for its actions in the territory. Netanyahu and Macron have long had strained relations; France led a push at last year's UNGA to secure recognition of a Palestinian state, and France has recently joined Britain in imposing sanctions on goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The exchanges this week underscore how the conflict, now entering its fourth year since the October 7 attacks, continues to fracture diplomatic alliances and strain the language of international law.