Israeli leaders slam Macron’s Palestinian state move

Israeli leaders on Thursday harshly criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France would formally recognize a Palestinian state, calling the move a threat to Israel’s existence and a reward for terrorism.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision “rewards terror” and accused the Palestinians of seeking Israel’s destruction.

“Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar echoed the sentiment, claiming that “a Palestinian state will be a Hamas state,” referencing the militant group that launched a deadly attack on Israel in 2023, igniting the ongoing war in Gaza.

Justice Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin called Macron’s decision “direct aid to terrorism” and described it as “a black mark on the history of France.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that Israel “will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian entity that would harm our security.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right figure in Netanyahu’s coalition, said France’s move “gives Israel one more reason” to annex the occupied West Bank and “put an end once and for all to the dangerous illusion of a terrorist Palestinian state.”

On Wednesday, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a non-binding resolution urging the government to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank — a goal long championed by far-right politicians.

Opposition figures also condemned Macron’s announcement.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, expected to challenge Netanyahu in the 2026 elections, called the move a “moral collapse” and predicted it would be “tossed into the dustbin of history.”

“Recognizing a Palestinian state is a reward for terrorism and encouragement for Hamas — an organization that carried out the most horrific massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman, head of the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, wrote on X.

Amichai Chikli, Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, posted a viral video clip showing Macron apparently being brushed aside by his wife, Brigitte, during a public event. In the caption, he wrote: “President @EmmanuelMacron, On behalf of the Government of Israel, here is our response to your recognition of a Palestinian state.”

France joins a growing list of countries moving toward formal recognition of Palestinian statehood, a move Israel has long opposed, arguing it undermines negotiations and emboldens militant groups.