(Bloomberg) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparred with Emmanuel Macron over the French president’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state and encourage other countries to do the same.
A Palestinian state would be “a bastion of Iranian terrorism,” Netanyahu said on a call with Macron on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Israeli leader. “The prime minister expressed fierce opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and said that this would constitute a huge prize for terrorism.”
Macron has said France could recognize Palestinian statehood as early as June at a United Nations conference meant to help end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
The dispute exemplifies the growing tension between Israel and some of its closest allies over the 18-month war, which has destroyed much of Gaza.
France would be the first Group of Seven member to make such a move. The likes of the UK and US formally support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but only after negotiations between the sides.
“I have made my position very clear,” Macron said in a statement following the call. He told Netanyahu that “the security interests of Israel and of everyone else in the region” were paramount, and that it was “an absolute priority” for Hamas to demilitarize and release all the hostages it holds.
In an X post last week, Macron said France wants “a Palestinian state without Hamas.”
Palestinians hope to eventually form a nation comprising Gaza and the larger territory of the West Bank, which together have more than 5 million people.
Decades of international peacemaking efforts have hinged on the idea of Palestinian statehood in those areas, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day war. The last major talks stalled in 2014.
Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, is firmly against a Palestinian state and polls suggest most of the Israeli public is too.
Opposition within Israel has grown since Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza. The Iran-backed group killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostage. More than 51,000 people have been killed since Israel began its retaliatory offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
In July last year, the Israeli parliament passed a resolution opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state, warning that it could serve as a base for terrorist groups. Some 68 of the Knesset’s 120 members backed the measure.
About three quarters of UN members recognize Palestinian statehood. Spain, Norway and Ireland did so last year, prompting Israel to recall its ambassadors to all three countries.
Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization in much of the West, including the US, calls for Israel’s destruction. It took over Gaza after Israel quit that territory in 2005. The Palestinian Authority, a more moderate group, governs Palestinians in the West Bank.
Israel’s government has long exercised widespread military and security control over the West Bank and Gaza.
–With assistance from Ania Nussbaum.
(Updates with more context.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
