Macron walks fine line as Netanyahu seeks anti-Iran front

French President Emmanuel Macron meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today on the second leg of his European trip amid deep differences over how to contain Iran's ambitions in the Middle East.

It will be the third meeting of the two leaders in Paris since last July, and while they agree on the threats posed by Tehran's missile projects and foreign interventions, they differ strongly on the response.

Netanyahu has pursued his strident attacks against Tehran during his visit to Europe, warning during a stop in Berlin on Monday that Germany's activities risked creating a new influx of migrants towards the country.

Iran is intent on fuelling "a religious war inside Syria and the consequences will be many, many more refugees and you know where exactly they will come," he told German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Netanyahu has been emboldened by US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 accord curbing Iran's nuclear programme -- and the threat of harsh sanctions against European firms doing business in the Islamic Republic.

Macron has led a staunch defence of the accord, whose other signatories -- France, Britain, Germany, China, Russia and the EU -- have maintained a common front so far.

Macron has warned that letting the deal fall apart will only inflame tensions, especially if harsh sanctions smother the economic relief Iranians began to enjoy after it was signed.

He and Netanyahu are scheduled to hold a press conference after their talks and launch a season of cultural exchanges between their countries.

Their meeting was given further urgency after Tehran announced it would soon open a site for producing new centrifuges to increase its uranium enrichment capabilities.

Nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said the moves were allowed under the accord, and "do not mean the negotiations (with Europe) have failed".

In a video posted on social media, Netanyahu reiterated his claims that the new enrichment capacity was aimed at producing nuclear weapons "to destroy the State of Israel".

Relations between Israel and the European Union had already been strained by the killing of 123 Palestinian protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces since March.

Macron denounced the "violence by Israel's armed forces" even as he noted the country's security concerns.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelled a planned trip to Israel last month.

Several pro-Palestinian groups are planning protests against Netanyahu in cities across France, while three journalist unions have called his visit "intolerable", denouncing the killing of Palestinian journalists.

Against this backdrop, talks on seeking an end to the Palestinian conflict have fallen to the wayside, not least after Trump broke with decades of protocol by recognising Israel's claim of Jerusalem as its capital.

Last week, the EU urged Israel to reconsider its decision to demolish a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, saying it undermines "prospects for a lasting peace".