Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, has strongly criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent announcement that France could recognize a Palestinian state by June. Saar described such a move as rewarding terrorism, claiming it would be a “prize for terror” and a boost to Hamas.
In a post on X, he argued that recognizing a Palestinian state unilaterally, in the current context, would only push peace, security, and stability further away from the region.
This follows a broader trend, with nearly 150 countries recognizing Palestine as a state. In 2024, countries such as Ireland, Norway, Spain, and Slovenia made their own declarations, in part as a response to Israel’s bombing of Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.
However, France would be the most prominent European nation to take this step, a move that the United States has traditionally opposed, but one that some believe is necessary to foster regional stability.
On Wednesday, Macron confirmed that France intends to recognize a Palestinian state within months, potentially at a UN conference in New York in June. This would also make France the first permanent member of the UN Security Council to do so. Macron emphasized that such a move would align France with its long-standing support for a two-state solution and clarify its position against countries like Iran, which denies Israel’s right to exist.
While France has consistently advocated for a two-state solution, official recognition of Palestine would mark a significant shift in policy and could strain relations with Israel, which sees such actions by foreign governments as premature.
If prize for recognizing Palestine is really ‘prize for terror’ and a crime then is the price for not recognizing Palestine as a state, despite ongoing Israel atrocities, not a ‘prize for genocide’ and support for wanted war criminals that chose the path of killing besieged, defenceless, starved Palestinians?
Israel officials should think before talking.
World now knows better as they can easily spot differences between a state that chose occupation, displacements, killing of children, women, elderly and destruction of hospitals and other facilities to a besieged state that is striving to beak out from apartheid and oppressions.
Before you judge please understand how it began…. The conflict began with the establishment of Israel in 1948, following the end of the British Mandate in Palestine. This led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, known as the Nakba.
So what are the atrocities, please? Is it harbouring terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, who are notorious for breaking the rules of engagement? We have seen these terrorist groups using Palestine as a shield to commit their atrocities, and no one talks about that, but when Israel retaliates, they are known as Zionists and all sorts.
Let’s start with Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist organization that has been in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007. It’s considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US and the EU due to its history of violent attacks and refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist. And let’s look at Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon, backed by Iran. It’s also considered a terrorist organization by many countries due to its involvement in global terrorist attacks and opposition to Israel and Western influence in the region. Please get the facts before passing wrong ideas.