PARIS – The move by French President Emmanuel Macron to acknowledge a Palestinian state has sparked anger from Israel and its ally, the U.S., by refocusing diplomatic efforts on the two-state solution to end the ongoing calamity in Gaza.

In a recent letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron expressed France’s commitment to a Palestinian state, emphasizing that lasting peace is vital for Israel’s security.

He stated that France’s actions are motivated by the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza, devoid of any reasonable defense. On Friday, Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a conflict zone, with reported casualties exceeding 63,000 Palestinians since hostilities began on Oct. 7, 2023, with an Hamas attack on Israel.

Countries such as the U.K., Canada, Australia, and Malta have announced their intention to formalize this stance during the U.N. General Assembly starting on Sept. 23. Additional countries, including New Zealand, Finland, and Portugal, are considering similar actions.

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Macron’s correspondence was in response to Netanyahu, who accused him of inciting “antisemitism” by advocating for a Palestinian state, which Macron called “unacceptable.”

Charles Kushner, U.S. Ambassador to France, also penned a letter criticizing the recognition of a Palestinian state, claiming it fosters extremism and jeopardizes Jewish lives in France, leading to his summoning by the French foreign ministry, where his deputy stood in his stead.

Such angry reaction “shows that symbols matter,” said geopolitics expert Pascal Boniface, director of the Paris-based Institute for International and Strategic Relations. “There is some kind of race against time between the diplomatic path, with the two-state solution back at the heart of the debate, and the situation on the ground (in Gaza), which is every day making this two-state solution a little more complicated or impossible.”

Boniface said some supporters of a two-state solution showed disappointment at leaders’ decision to wait until September to officially recognize a Palestinian state, because they “fear that recognition will come when Gaza has even more become a graveyard.”

Calls on Israel to stop the Gaza offensive

Macron and other international leaders have urged Israel to stop its offensive in the besieged territory, where most of its over 2 million residents are displaced, neighborhoods lie in ruins and a famine has been declared in Gaza City.

“The occupation of Gaza, the forced displacement of Palestinians, their reduction to starvation … will never bring victory to Israel,” Macron wrote in his letter to Netanyahu. “On the contrary, they will reinforce the isolation of your country, fuel those who find pretext for antisemitism, and endanger Jewish communities around the world.”

More than 140 countries already recognize a Palestinian state in what is a mostly symbolic move.

“The world will be the same the day after,” said Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza political analyst and visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

Still, it adds diplomatic pressure on Israel, he stressed. Heavyweight Western nations demonstrating strong support for a two-state solution “shatters the illusion that Netanyahu is trying to sell to the Israelis and to the international community that mass population transfer or depopulation is the only way to solve the Palestinian issue,” Shehada said.

Strengthening moderate Palestinians

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot insisted this week that diplomatic efforts led by France and Saudi Arabia also resulted, for the first time, in highly significant condemnation of the Hamas attacks against civilians by all 22 members of the Arab League.

During a July conference co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia at the U.N., Arab League nations agreed in their New York Declaration that “Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.”

Shehada expects the move to strengthen the camp of moderate Palestinians, including by demonstrating to the public that the Palestinian Authority is gaining weight in negotiations.

He said it may weaken the most violent leadership in Hamas by “creating a diplomatic track that provides Palestinians with an alternative to violence, sending a message that diplomatic engagement will pay off and will lead to a Palestinian state, whereas violence will not take you anywhere.”

The Palestinian Authority hopes to establish an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Hamas drove out the PA when it seized Gaza in 2007, a year after winning Palestinian parliamentary elections. After the Hamas takeover of Gaza, the PA was left with administering semiautonomous pockets of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

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