While the IDF bombings on Rafah continue, Emmanuel Macron said he was “ready” for recognition of the Palestinian state, but “not under the influence of emotion”
Tuesday May 28, Emmanuel Macron announced that he did not wish to recognize the State of Palestine out of “emotion”. On the other hand, the head of state could consider it, but only “at a useful time” as he clarified during a press conference in Meseberg in Germany, with the companion of the chancellor, Olaf Scholz. While he has been pleading for several months for a two-state solution in the Middle East, the President of the Republic seems to have changed his line.
“I will not make an acknowledgment of emotion”
This outing by Emmanuel Macron comes on the day of the official recognition of the State of Palestine by three countries: Ireland, Spain and Norway. “Like you, I am upset by these images that we see in Rafah, but the response must be political,” he indicated in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The same day, new Israeli bombings caused the deaths of 7 people in Rafah. Two days earlier, a refugee camp had been targeted by the IDF.
“There is no taboo for France, I am totally ready to recognize a Palestinian state” clarified Emmanuel Macron during the same press conference. “I consider that this recognition must come at a useful time, at a time when it is part of a process in which the States of the region and Israel are engaged and which allows, on the basis of a reform of the Authority Palestinian to produce a useful result. I will not make an acknowledgment of emotion. So, will France recognize the Palestinian state in 3 months? In 2 years ? Doubt still lingers as bombings intensify in the Gaza Strip.
Attal on the defensive, Guetta maintains the vagueness in Macronie
Within the majority, the vagueness remains, particularly on the side of the close guard of the President of the Republic. “Yes or no, will the French government finally recognize the State of Palestine?” asked the boss of environmentalist deputies Cyrielle Châtelain of the Prime Minister in the National Assembly this Tuesday. Gabriel Attal did not wish to respond, accusing the elected official of not “calling clearly” for the “liberation” of the hostages. The vagueness even tends to turn into a real hiccup, notably between Bernard Guetta, number 2 on the European majority list, and his head of the list, Valérie Hayer. The first spoke out in favor of recognizing the existence of a Palestinian state”, before rallying to the cause of Macronie and Valérie Hayer, indicating that recognition of the Palestinian state was “not necessarily now” and that it could be perceived as a “retaliatory measure”.