Mr. President of the Republic Elysée Palace, 55 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 PARIS October 29, 2025 in Paris, Mr. President of the Republic, Our association, Jurists for the Respect of International Law (JURDI), follows up on the letter we sent you on November 15, 2024 concerning the transfers of French arms to the State of Israel, which has remained unanswered.
You stated then, on October 5, 2024, that "the priority is to stop supplying weapons to fight in Gaza".
However, a year later, no effective measures have been adopted to stop the transfers, exports or transshipments of weapons that could be used in military operations conducted in the Gaza Strip.
This inaction comes at a time when the International Court of Justice has repeatedly recognized the plausible existence of a genocide committed by Israel and recalled the binding obligations of all States Parties to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
By authorizing new licenses and maintaining exports of dual-use materials, technologies or goods to Israel, France exposes itself to a violation of its imperative obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the Genocide Convention and Article 1 common to the Geneva Conventions, which requires "respect and enforcement" of international humanitarian law in all circumstances.
The export to Israel of weapons presented as "strictly defensive" or "intended for re-export" cannot exempt France from its obligations.
Under international law, no exception based on alleged defensive use or possible re-export justifies a transfer when there remains a foreseeable risk that the material will be used to commit or facilitate war crimes, crimes against humanity, or acts of genocide. This principle derives directly from Article 6(3) of the Arms Trade Treaty and the consistent jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice.
The obligation to prevent genocide and the obligation to refrain from assisting serious violations of international humanitarian law are not obligations of passive abstention: they require positive, concrete and verifiable measures.
As the International Court of Justice has recalled, States must, in the presence of a plausible risk of genocide, use all means reasonably at their disposal to prevent the commission of such crimes.
The French State cannot therefore be satisfied with declarations of conformity: it is incumbent upon it to establish proof of effective diligence and of an absence of material contribution to the facts observed.
Under Articles 16 to 41 of the International Law Commission's Draft Articles on State Responsibility, France is subject to international responsibility if it aids or abets another State in the commission of an internationally wrongful act. Furthermore, Article 103 of the Charter of the United Nations reaffirms the primacy of international obligations relating to peace and human rights over any commercial or contractual considerations. The credibility of France's position now depends on complete transparency regarding the issuance, monitoring, and actual destination of export licenses for arms and military equipment.
In accordance with Article 13 of the Arms Trade Treaty, France is obligated to guarantee the public traceability of licenses, end users, and related export flows. The lack of access to this information prevents any democratic verification and undermines France's substantive compliance with its international obligations.
It now appears essential that France establish an independent audit mechanism to verify that exports authorized or carried out since 2023 to Israel do not contribute to serious violations of international humanitarian law. This mechanism, consistent with the principle of due diligence, would be the only way to guarantee the credibility of the controls carried out by the Interministerial Commission for the Study of Exports of War Materiel (CIEEMG).
The annual report to Parliament on arms exports, while useful, remains insufficient as long as it lacks a detailed breakdown by country and by category of exported equipment. This transparency is a minimum requirement for ensuring effective parliamentary and citizen oversight.
Several European companies, some incorporated under French law, have been mentioned in independent reports for their involvement in the supply chain of military components destined for Israel. While some are the subject of legal proceedings, it is France's responsibility to ensure that no economic actor operating on its territory contributes, directly or indirectly, to the perpetration of serious violations of international humanitarian law or the crime of genocide.
To ensure that economic actors effectively comply with France's international obligations, it would be advisable to establish a public register listing export licenses, beneficiary companies, and declared end users. This register, coupled with an independent audit mechanism accessible to Parliament, would strengthen public transparency and accountability.
France must now return to an absolute respect for the imperative norms of international law and to conform its foreign and industrial policy to them without delay.
Consequently, JURDI calls upon you to:
- Immediately prohibit any authorization for the transfer, export, transit or transshipment of weapons, ammunition, spare parts, components, technologies and dual-use goods destined for Israel; ;
- Suspend all military, security, financial or scientific cooperation with this State and the arms companies that support it; ;
- Conduct an inter-ministerial audit of public policies and cooperation with Israel to ensure that they do not provide any aid or assistance to the crime of genocide; ;
- To use France’s influence to suspend the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel, in accordance with its article 2.
Mr. President of the Republic, France's respect for its international obligations is not a matter of political choice but a legal and moral imperative. By translating France's words into action in the service of preventing genocide and upholding international humanitarian law, your actions could reaffirm our country's place among the nations that base their foreign policy on law and not on economic collusion. Please accept, Mr. President of the Republic, the expression of our highest consideration.
The President of JURDI,
Patrick ZAHND
