Netanyahu condemns French President's decision to recognize a Palestinian state: “Palestinians don’t want a state beside Israel—they want one instead of it.” Sa’ar: "A Palestinian state will be a Hamas state." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Thursday evening to French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that France would officially recognize the “State of Palestine”.
"We strongly condemn President Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the October 7 massacre. Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it. Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel," he said.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar criticized Macron and said, “The French President's pretension to create by mere words an illusionary arrangement in our land is ridiculous and not serious. His statement this evening shows that all the conditions that he himself set a few weeks ago - have evaporated. All that remains is the illusionary state he presumes to establish.”
“A Palestinian state will be a Hamas state, just as the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip twenty years ago led to Hamas taking control of it,” added Sa’ar. Other Israeli leaders similarly blasted Macron’s announcement on Thursday evening. (Read more)
