Macron's pledge to recognize State of Palestine sparks anger in Israel
Israeli political leaders reacted in unison: Israel Katz, the country's defense minister, said he would not accept such a decision, claiming a Palestinian State "would harm our security, endanger our existence." Amir Ohana, speaker of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, said the French president "just awarded Hamas a prize for committing the October 7 massacre." He added, "I'm ashamed to have met this man. I love France. It deserves more courageous leadership."
Israeli far-right political leaders, meanwhile, called for the country to retaliate to Macron's announcement by officially annexing the occupied West Bank. "I thank President Macron for providing yet another compelling reason to finally apply Israeli sovereignty over the historic regions of Judea and Samaria," wrote Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a Jewish supremacist, on the social media platform X. The day before, Wednesday, July 23, the Knesset passed a symbolic non-binding motion (71 votes to 13) that advocated the same notion of applying Israeli "sovereignty" over the occupied West Bank. Yariv Levin, Israel's justice minister, accused France of supporting terrorism and also called for the annexation of the Palestinian West Bank territory, 60% of which is already directly administered by Israel.
In the United States, the Elysée's promise was deemed counterproductive by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace," said Rubio, adding: "It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7." On the other hand, in addition to Saudi Arabia and Jordan, both which congratulated Macron, Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain, a country that already recognizes the State of Palestine, hailed the French announcement, seeing it as a positive step toward a two-state solution.
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