July 24,2025: French President Emmanuel Macron announces that he will officially recognize a "Palestinian State." He publicizes a letter he sent to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and praises his "courageous commitments". In it, Macron emphasizes his desire to "fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people" and that "We must immediately implement a ceasefire, release all hostages and provide massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," Macron reportedly announced. He did not, however make recognizing a fictitious Palestinian state conditioned on any of that.
"Peace is possible," he added, along with the notion that "Building a Palestinian state and ensuring its viability would 'contribute to the security of all in the Middle East."'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replied that the decision "rewards terror" and would create " a launch pad to annihilate Israel ."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Macron's decision is "a slap in the face to the victims of October 7."
Hamas, for its part, immediately congratulated Macron and said that his decision constituted "a positive step in the right direction."
Macron appears either indifferent or unaware of the effect his announcement might have on the hostages that Hamas kidnapped and is still torturing and starving in its tunnels. He also seems unaware that even if Abbas, now in the 20th year of his four-year term, suddenly condemned the massacre of October 7, 2023, that for almost two years, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its Fatah political wing wholeheartedly celebrated it.
Since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, Abbas has enthusiastically backed anti-Israeli terrorism; supported the erasure of Israel (as well as here, and here); has a lavish, multi-billion dollar "pay-to-slay" program that funds murdering Jews, and uses textbooks that incite children to murder Jews.
Does Macron actually think that financing anti-Israeli terrorism, supporting the eradication of Israel, and inciting children to kill Jews are "courageous commitments"?
Macron apparently has no interest in seeing what the real aspirations of Palestinian Arabs are. Recent polls show that 64% of Arabs living under the rule of the Palestinian Authority think that the "two-state solution" is "no longer practical", 72% approve of the October 7 massacre, and 41% support an "armed struggle" (terrorism) to destroy Israel. So, Macron actually regards these views -- approving the October 7, 2023 massacre of Jews and continuing terrorism to displace Israel -- as "legitimate aspirations"? Good to know.
Macron acts as if he has no idea that, if elections were held today in the West Bank territories ruled by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas would win in a landslide -- meaning that the state he is planning to recognize would be a terrorist state led by an organization dedicated to obliterating Israel? France, the UK, Canada and Australia also approved recognizing a terrorist state.
Macron says he wants "the release of all hostages," but his announcement may well have doomed them. "Talks with Hamas fell apart on the day Macron made the unilateral decision that he's going to recognize the Palestinian state," Rubio stated. As soon as Macron's decision was announced, Hamas broke off negotiations. Macron may have sentenced the remaining hostages to death.
After seeing the horrific images of starved, tortured, and skeletal hostages released by Hamas, Macron wrote: "Abject cruelty, limitless inhumanity: this is what Hamas embodies." This observation, however, did not lead him to change his position or state any conditions.
Macron's calls for an immediate ceasefire could save Hamas from destruction -- exactly what Hamas and Qatar want.
Macron barely mentions the October 7th massacre, thereby conveniently omitting that it was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. This "oversight" amounts to exonerating Hamas from the immensity of its crime. Macron's declaration is not just "a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th", it is a slap in the face to all the Israelis who still live in pain from the October 7th massacre; to all the families of hostages who know the horror of the treatment Hamas is still inflicting on the victims it still holds; to all the Israeli soldiers currently risking their lives to ensure there will never be another massacre, and to all the Israelis who want to see the threat of terrorism weighing on their country and them permanently erased.
France, the UK, Canada and Australia have to see that the terrorist state they are about to recognize has no borders, no internationally recognized territory, and meets no criteria of any kind as required in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (1933) for a state to be recognized.
France, the UK, Canada and Australia also must see that the United Nations can only recognize a state under very specific conditions that will likely not be met. Chapter II, Article 4 of the UN Charter states that the admission of a state to membership in the United Nations "shall be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council."
France, the UK, Canada and Australia undoubtedly fathom that even if there were an affirmative vote in the General Assembly, the United States would immediately veto it. Even if the Democrats returned to power, it is not at all likely that they would support creating a genocidal, terrorist state.
France, the UK, Canada and Australia further know that Article 80 of the United Nations Charter makes it impossible to create a Palestinian state on the territory of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank without Israel's agreement. Late Israeli lawyer Howard Grief noted:
"Article 80 of the UN Charter, once known unofficially as the Jewish People's clause, which preserves intact all the rights granted to Jews under the Mandate for Palestine, even after the Mandate's expiry on May 14-15, 1948."
He added:
"As a direct result of Article 80, the UN cannot transfer these rights over any part of Palestine, vested as they are in the Jewish People, to any non-Jewish entity."
France, the UK, Canada and Australia also undoubtledly realize that Israel cannot stop the war without the return of all of the hostages. What would they do if their citizens were held hostage? Or are they already?
After October 7, 2023, Israel has no choice but to resolutely oppose the creation of any terrorist state threatening it on its borders. If France, the UK, Canada and Australia are so committed to the creation of a Palestinian State, surely they will be happy to donate some of their plentiful land for it.
Macron wants to exert increased pressure only on Israel. He sees that a strong trend of hostility towards Israel has taken shape in the Western world, and he apparently enjoys playing the role of its figurehead.
France, the UK, Canada and Australia might also be joined by Portugal. Its Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has said he is leaning toward the "rapid recognition" of a Palestinian state.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was more moderate but said:
"For Germany, the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of that process. But such a process must begin now."
On July 21, the leaders of 31 countries issued a joint statement on "Occupied Palestinian Territories" that amounted to blood libel, stating that Israel practices "the inhumane killing of civilians, including children," ignores the "most basic needs" of the inhabitants of Gaza, and denies them "essential humanitarian assistance." Hamas – carefully not referred to as a terrorist organization or with any mention if its culpability -- is mentioned exactly once.
A conference on the "question of Palestine," co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, held in New York in July, led to a joint declaration "urging collective action to end the war in Gaza and to achieve a just, peaceful, and lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict". The declaration -- signed by 17 countries, the 22-member Arab League, and the entire European Union -- stated that Hamas must transfer authority to the Palestinian Authority with a view to the creation of a "demilitarized Palestinian state" living side by side, in peace and security with Israel. When Israel left the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Gaza Strip was not supposed to become militarized or a terrorist entity. That happened anyway, and in all probability would happen again unless Israel stopped it again.
The population of the Gaza Strip voted for Hamas to come to power in 2006. In 2007, members of the Palestinian Authority, in a coup, were either expelled, taken prisoner or executed.
Israel is now being falsely accused of causing a famine in Gaza. Most commentators completely ignore that Hamas has constantly stolen food aid entering Gaza, then hoarded it and resold it at extortionist prices. These commentators also omit that at the entrance to Gaza, approximately 1,000 trucks were blocked for days because the UN refused to distribute the aid, leaving it to rot in the sun, even after Israel offered the UN military protection.
UNRWA, which employs Hamas members, uses fake Hamas figures and falsely accuses Israel of killing Palestinian Arabs seeking food. The fake figures released by UNRWA are then used worldwide to try to criminalize Israel further. Photos of an Arab child emaciated due to a genetic illness were presented, again falsely, as photos of a child dying of starvation because of Israel.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The ICC accused them -- not Hamas which stole most of the food -- of crimes against humanity.
Hamas is an organization with straightforwardly unhidden genocidal goals:
"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory).
– 1988 Hamas Covenant, Preamble"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla [slave of Allah], there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."
– 1988 Hamas Covenant, Article 7"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."
– 1988 Hamas Covenant, Article 13
The October 7, 2023 massacre carried genocidal intentions that Hamas leaders did not even try to hide. Nevertheless, it is Israel that is slanderously accused of genocide. The well-documented reality is that the Israeli army does everything possible to avoid civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. John Spencer, Chair of the Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, who has been embedded with the IDF in Gaza four times, has stated:
"There is no genocide in Gaza....Israel has taken extraordinary steps to limit civilian harm. It warns before attacks using text messages, phone calls, leaflets, and broadcasts. It opens safe corridors and pauses operations so civilians can leave combat areas. It tracks civilian presence down to the building level. I have seen missions delayed or canceled because children were nearby. I have seen Israeli troops come under fire and still be ordered not to shoot back because civilians might be harmed."
All the same, the accusation of genocide against Israel is peddled not only by extremist groups supporting Hamas, but also by so-called human rights organizations such as Amnesty International. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez actually called the situation in Gaza "the greatest genocide this century has witnessed." Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin used the term "genocide" to describe the situation in Gaza. On May 28, 2024 Spain, Ireland and Norway rushed to "recognize" a make-believe Palestinian state.
This continual demonization of Israel has sadly led to an increased hatred of Israel, a tiny country that, ironically, is fighting to protect the very countries defaming it. A thank you would be nice. It is this calumny that has led to an explosion in Europe of anti-Semitic acts.
Columnist Jonathan Tobin wrote:
"Jew-hatred is not merely back in fashion... it has been sanctioned by the intellectual, academic, legal and cultural establishments across the globe, which now regard anti-Zionism as a legitimate, even enlightened point of view, even though it is a prejudicial idea that denies rights to Jews—rights denied to no one else."
The oldest hatred is not dead. It just has new excuses, new clothes.
In a speech delivered to Congress on July 24, 2024, Prime Minister Netanyahu described the slanderous accusations against Israel, plentiful for decades, and the resulting rise in anti-Semitism. He emphasized how precious the United States' friendship with Israel was in these decisive circumstances. He added that Israel would fight and would not bend, but that there was a growing risk that democracies would not understand the extremist danger and the urgent need to defeat it.
What is at stake now is not only Israel's survival but the need for democracies to understand the central danger confronting them, and finally to start combatting it.
During the Second World War, all those grateful for the hard-won freedoms of the democratic world saw that the only way out was not compromise and submission, but the full destruction of the Third Reich -- not giving it a "state."
Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27 books on France and Europe.
