Israel/Palestine

Eugene

(65,980 posts) Sun Jul 27, 2025, 05:41 AM Sunday

Frustration, Gaza alarm drove Macron to go it alone on Palestine recognition

Source: Reuters

Frustration, Gaza alarm drove Macron to go it alone on Palestine recognition

By John Irish and Michel Rose
July 26, 2025 6:03 AM EDT Updated 23 hours ago

PARIS, July 26 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that France would become the first Western member of the United Nations Security Council to recognise a Palestinian state in September has caused diplomatic ructions from the Middle East through Europe to Washington.

But it did not come out of the blue.

When Macron visited the Egyptian town of Al-Arish on the border with Gaza in April, he was struck by the mounting humanitarian crisis and made clear on his return home that Paris would soon opt for recognition.

Working with Saudi Arabia, Macron came up with a plan to have France plus G7 allies Britain and Canada recognise Palestinian statehood, while pushing Arab states to adopt a softer stance towards Israel through a United Nations conference. But despite weeks of talks he failed to get others on board.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/frustration-gaza-alarm-drove-macron-go-it-alone-palestine-recognition-2025-07-26/

Alternate link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/frustration-gaza-alarm-drove-macron-083808230.html

2 replies

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Frustration, Gaza alarm drove Macron to go it alone on Palestine recognition (Original Post) Eugene Sunday OP

good for him-- we need bravery in these times LymphocyteLover Sunday #1

Some interesting points: AloeVera Sunday #2

LymphocyteLover

(8,410 posts)

1. good for him-- we need bravery in these times

Reply to Eugene (Original post)

Sun Jul 27, 2025, 08:07 AM

Sunday

AloeVera

(3,450 posts)

2. Some interesting points:

Reply to Eugene (Original post)

Sun Jul 27, 2025, 05:16 PM

Sunday

Fear of the US. scared away the UK and Canada. Shame.

Three diplomats said London did not want to face the wrath of the United States, and Ottawa took a similar stance, leaving Macron to go it alone.

Maybe focus first on saving the Palestinian state from becoming rubble and annexed to Israel? Symbolic gestures are nice and all but...

Others say while recognition has symbolic value, there will still be no functioning Palestinian state whenever the war in Gaza comes to an end.

"Recognition by a European heavyweight like France is indicative of the rising frustration with Israel's intransigent policies," said Amjad Iraqi, senior analyst at International Crisis Group.

"What's the point of recognising a state if they're doing little to stop it from turning into ruins?"

Israel's parliament voted on Wednesday in favour of a non-binding declaration urging the government to apply Israeli law to the West Bank, widely seen as a de facto annexation of the territory. That added to the urgency in Paris.

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