French President Emmanuel Macron visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP.
The president’s remarks come after judges charged two French-Israeli women with ‘complicity in genocide’ for blocking Gaza aid convoys
French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Radio J on 15 February that French nationals fighting Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza are “children of France” and cannot be labeled as “genociders.”
“We cannot accept, we must never accept that any of our children, that any French person, be accused of being genocidal,” Macron said, adding, “That is impossible, and it represents a reversal of values to which we must not yield.”
Macron also argued that “some people who sometimes played an active role in the anti-racist struggle … have used, distorted what is happening internationally to try to dehumanize, essentialize fellow Jewish citizens.”
His remarks followed warrants issued on 3 February requiring two French-born women living in Israel, Nili Kupfer-Naouri and Rachel Touitou, to appear before an investigating magistrate for “complicity in genocide.”
The two women played central roles in organizations that actively blocked humanitarian aid convoys bound for Gaza – Israel Is Forever, led by Nili Kupfer-Naouri, and Tsav 9, to which Rachel Touitou is linked.
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In June 2024, the US Department of State designated Tsav 9 a “violent extremist Israeli group that has been blocking, harassing and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza” during the height of the genocide and the man-made famine that gripped the strip as a result of the siege.
UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, meanwhile, responded on social media saying, “We do not label someone a criminal or a genocidaire based on their nationality: it is up to the courts to decide.”
The case unfolds as part of a wider international legal effort aimed at Israeli military personnel and officials over alleged crimes in Gaza, a campaign driven in significant part by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF).
“Our main goal is to end impunity and create some form of accountability for these criminals,” said Dyab Abou Jahjah, chairman of HRF, in an interview with The Cradle about the foundation’s work.
Jahjah said the foundation focuses on specific categories of defendants, saying, “There are two kinds of cases we are fighting. You have the cases against dual nationals who have been participating in the genocide in Gaza.”
“Our primary strategy is to focus on dual nationals because, unlike traveling soldiers, we have the time to build in-depth cases against them.”
Newly released data obtained via a Freedom of Information request shows that tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers held at least one additional nationality as of March 2025, with the largest cohorts coming from the US, France, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, and the UK in descending order, followed by at least 15 other countries.
