Hamas has praised Emmanuel Macron’s announcement, seeing a “Not positive” And calling for other countries to follow this example.
Israeli leaders strongly criticized the announcement made Thursday July 24 by French President Emmanuel Macron according to which France would recognize in September the state of Palestine. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu considered that this decision “Rewarded terror” and constituted an existential threat, offering a “Launch ramp to destroy” Israel. “Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek to create a state alongside Israel, they seek to create a state in the place of Israel”he added.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar was just as scathing, saying that“A Palestinian state will be a state of Hamas”in reference to Palestinian activists who attacked Israel in 2023, triggering war in Gaza. Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin, who is also Minister of Justice, described this decision as“Direct assistance to terrorism” and “Black spot in the history of France”. Defense Minister Israel Katz promised that Israel “Would not allow the creation of a Palestinian entity that would harm our security”.
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“The dangerous illusion of a terrorist Palestinian state”
The Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, judged that the announcement of France «(gave) in Israel an additional reason ” to annex the West Bank which he has occupied since 1967 and “Put an end to all to the dangerous illusion of a terrorist Palestinian state”. On Wednesday, the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, precisely argued a non -binding decision urging the government to impose Israeli sovereignty on the West Bank, thus annexing the territory, a long -standing claim of the Israeli far right.
The figures of the Israeli opposition also criticized Emmanuel Macron’s decision in very hard terms. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who should appear against Netanyahu in the 2026 elections, wrote on X that the French president’s decision was a sign of“Moral collapse” and that she “Would be thrown out of history”. “Recognizing a Palestinian state amounts to rewarding terrorism and encouraging Hamas, an organization that has perpetrated the most horrible massacre of Jews since the Holocaust”wrote on X opposition deputy Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the nationalist party Yisrael Beitenu.
“A positive step”
Amichai Chikli, Israeli Minister of the diaspora and the fight against anti -Semitism, published a video that has become viral on the Internet, in which we see Brigitte Macron repelled her husband Emmanuel Macron with her arms. “President @emmanuelmacron, on behalf of the Israeli government, here is our response to your recognition of a Palestinian State”he wrote on X.
Hamas praised Emmanuel Macron’s announcement, for his part, seeing a “Not positive” And calling for other countries to follow this example. “We consider this as a positive step in the right direction to do justice to our oppressed Palestinian people and support their legitimate right to self -determination”wrote Hamas in a press release, calling “All the countries of the world – especially the European nations and those which have not yet recognized the state of Palestine – to follow the example of France”. The vice-president of the Palestine Liberation Organization (OLP), Hussein al-Cheikh, praised this decision in favor of “The establishment of our independent state”.
Saudi Arabia also praised the decision “historical” of the French president, calling for other countries to take “Similar positive measures”. “The kingdom salutes this historic decision which reaffirms the consensus of the international community on the right of the Palestinian people to self -determination and the establishment of an independent state on the borders of 1967”wrote the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.