The French-Israeli relationship has always been fraught ever since the Vichy government in the second world war deported 76,000 French Jews to their deaths.
News that the French will join Spain, Ireland and Norway in recognising a Palestinian state is not going to make matters any better.
Outrage over 56,000 deaths
Macron has expressed his own outrage at the genocide in Palestine. He has spoken of a “moral duty and political requirement” to recognise a Palestinian state.
Macron believes regional stability will only come from a commitment to Palestinian statehood.
Israel’s response
Ron Dermer, the Israeli minister of strategic affairs, has gone further, saying Macron serves the ends of Hamas and “supports a terrorist state.”
France is the only permanent member of the UN Security Council to be considering recognition.
Meanwhile 150,000 French citizens live in Israel – 48 of whom were killed in the October 7 terror atrocities in 2023.
French support for Israel
Despite President Charles de Gaulle calling Jews an “elite people, sure of itself and domineering” in 1967, France made a significant contribution in the 1950s to the development of Israel’s (unacknowledged) nuclear bomb. France has also provided Mirage fighter jets to assist Israel’s defence.
Clinging to power
Underneath it all Macron, like Netanyahu, is unpopular at home and is clinging onto power by the most marginal of threads.
Netanyahu is forced to follow an extreme right ideology based on the need for justice if he is to stay in power. The war with Iran is another example of his desperation.
Macron is using an opportunity at the G7 to pull world leaders together in a conference for peace. He is hoping his statesmanship will paper over cracks at home.
The foreign policy vacuum created by “America First” gives leaders like Starmer and Macron room to establish themselves as world leaders. Starmer has aligned with Trump, Macron less so.
