Macron’s Middle East advisor hints at sanctions on Israel and claims a Palestinian state could have prevented Hamas’s October 7 massacre, sparking outrage in Jerusalem.
France is escalating its diplomatic pressure on Israel, with senior officials signaling that Paris may soon recognize a Palestinian state and open embassies both in Ramallah and Paris. The move, expected as early as next month, was revealed by President Emmanuel Macron’s Middle Eastern affairs advisor, Ofer Bronchtein, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12.
Bronchtein ignited controversy by asserting that “October 7th would not have happened if there were a Palestinian state, since the stability derived from such a state would have prevented the disaster.”
He went further, declaring: “The war must end and the hostages must return home. Things must happen in the region, but the war will not allow for normalization between Israel and other countries. We are trying to prevent Israel from going into Gaza City and escalating the situation. There is no security or military justification for it, and it is not the way to free hostages.”
In what many saw as an implicit threat, Bronchtein added that Paris “hopes not to have to impose sanctions” on Israel.
The remarks triggered a fiery response from Israeli Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, who urged immediate application of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria: “If France recognizes a Palestinian state, it will in effect be supporting terror, murder, rape, and the massacre of the Jewish people. We should have applied sovereignty in Judea and Samaria already yesterday, regardless of France’s actions. But if our application of sovereignty coincides with France’s recognition of a Palestinian state, it will be a fitting response and a clear message: the Land of Israel belongs to us in its entirety.”
The diplomatic clash comes as relations between Paris and Jerusalem face mounting strain, with France positioning itself as one of Europe’s strongest backers of Palestinian statehood — a stance Israel views as undermining its security and legitimizing terror.
