Remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN General Assembly sparked a heated controversy, with the Israeli government launching a fierce attack against him over his remarks regarding Gaza and the West Bank.
Macron criticized Israeli actions in the West Bank, making specific mention of violence by settlers, while maintaining that Hamas has no active presence in the region, where governance is exercised by the weakened Palestinian Authority.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted strongly, calling the French president’s remarks “bizarre nonsense.”
The Netanyahu government’s response
“The bizarre absurdity of Emmanuel Macron’s statement is inconceivable,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement, accusing the French president of “ignorance.”
As the Israeli side argued, ignorance “is no excuse,” while the reaction came just hours before Netanyahu’s scheduled speech at the UN General Assembly, where he is expected to present the Israeli government’s positions.
Macron: “Let the law of the jungle not prevail”
During his speech to the UN General Assembly, Emmanuel Macron warned of the danger that “the law of the jungle” in international relations, calling for a strengthening of the United Nations’ role in maintaining a “civilized international community.”
Referring to the Middle East, the French president reiterated his support for the two-state solution, arguing that it is the basis for a long-term settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.
At the same time, he criticized the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, describing it as a “spectacle that shames us all” and calling for international action.
“What credibility do we have if we continue to remain inactive regarding Gaza?” he asked.
Call for a Two-State Solution
Macron emphasized that the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is a prerequisite for the security of Israel and its people.
At the same time, he referred to the increase in violence by settlers in the West Bank, an issue that has sparked repeated international reactions.
The French president’s stance is part of Paris’s broader effort to promote a political solution to the conflict, at a time when hostilities in Gaza and tensions in the West Bank remain at the center of the UN General Assembly’s proceedings.
Source: Proto Thema
