Israel-France Row Intensifies Over Macron’s Palestinian State Recognition Plan

A diplomatic row between Israel and France over Paris’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state next month escalated to crisis level on Tuesday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused French President Emmanuel Macron of fuelling “antisemitism”.

The Elysee Palace responded sharply, describing Netanyahu’s allegation as “abject” and “erroneous”.

“This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation,” the French presidency added.

Netanyahu’s accusation came in a letter addressed to Macron, seen by AFP, in which he claimed antisemitism had “surged” in France following the French president’s announcement last month that France would formally recognise Palestinian statehood at a UN meeting in September.

In his letter, Netanyahu stated: “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas’s refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.”

Israel swiftly rebuked Macron’s announcement, while France maintained that its move is aligned with a long-standing advocacy of the two-state solution.

France plans to formally recognise a Palestinian state, joining a growing list of nations that have done so since the Gaza war began nearly two years ago.

The French government emphasises that its recognition goes against Hamas, which rules Gaza and opposes a two-state solution.

In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry criticised Netanyahu’s remarks as “unjustified and hostile to peace”.

“The old record of confusing criticism of the Israeli occupation and its crimes or support for the Palestinian people’s rights to freedom and independence with antisemitism… has become cracked and exposed, and no one is fooled,” the ministry stated.

The French presidency highlighted that France “protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens”.

“Violence against the (French) Jewish community is intolerable. That is why, beyond criminal convictions, the president has systematically required all his governments since 2017 — and even more so since the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023 — to show the strongest action against perpetrators of antisemitic acts,” it said.

Macron’s office added that Netanyahu’s letter “will not go unanswered”.

Separately, Benjamin Haddad, Macron’s Minister for Europe, stressed that France has “no lessons to learn in the fight against antisemitism” and warned that the issue, “which is poisoning our European societies,” must not be exploited.

France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, with reported antisemitic incidents rising sharply from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before slightly falling to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu also criticised Australia, which similarly plans to recognise Palestinian statehood next month.

Posting on his office’s official X account, he called Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a “weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews”.

This personal attack came amid a diplomatic dispute following Australia’s cancellation of the visa of far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman on Monday.

Hours later, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced the revocation of visas for Australia’s representatives to the Palestinian Authority.

This escalating diplomatic friction highlights the intensifying tensions over Palestinian state recognition in the context of both European and wider international relations.