Foreign Ministry slams Macron’s call for Palestinian statehood as ‘moral duty’ while Defence Minister Katz promises to build ‘Jewish Israeli state’ with 22 new West Bank settlements
Diplomatic tensions between Israel and France reached new heights on Friday as Israel’s foreign ministry accused French President Emmanuel Macron of undertaking a “crusade against the Jewish state” after he declared that recognizing a Palestinian state was both a “moral duty” and a “political necessity.”
The harsh rebuke came just a day after Benjamin Netanyahu’s government announced its most ambitious settlement expansion in decades—the creation of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move Israeli officials explicitly stated was designed to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Macron’s Singapore Declaration
Speaking at a press conference in Singapore on Friday, Macron delivered his strongest criticism of Israel to date, calling on European nations to “harden the collective position” against Israel if it fails to respond appropriately to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza within “the coming hours and days.”
If there was no response in line with the humanitarian situation in Gaza, we will have to harden our collective position,” Macron said, suggesting this could include dropping assumptions that human rights are being respected and applying sanctions.
The French president, who was in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum alongside US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also acknowledged Asian perceptions of Western “double standards” in calling for cooperation on Ukraine while giving Israel “a free pass.
“Our credibility is at stake,” Macron told participants at the opening session of the security conference.
Israel’s Furious Response
The Israeli foreign ministry’s response was swift and uncompromising. In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the ministry declared: “President Macron’s Crusade Against the Jewish State Continues. The facts do not interest Macron. There is no humanitarian blockade. That is a blatant lie.”
The statement marked a significant escalation in rhetoric between the two nations, with Israel directly accusing the French president of dishonesty and bias against the Jewish state.
Settlement Expansion as ‘Clear Message’
The timing of Israel’s settlement announcement appears calculated. Defence Minister Israel Katz explicitly linked the expansion to France’s position, vowing on Friday to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank.
This is a decisive response to the terrorist organisations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this land—and it is also a clear message to the French president and his associates: they will recognise a Palestinian state on paper—but we will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground,” Katz said in a statement from his office.
The 22 new settlements represent what Peace Now, an Israeli NGO that tracks settlements, called “the largest expansion of settlements since the signing of the Oslo Accords more than 30 years ago.
Strategic Intent Made Explicit
In an unusually frank admission, the joint statement from Katz and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that “all the new communities are being established with a long-term strategic vision, aimed at reinforcing Israeli control of the territory, preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state, and securing development reserves for settlement in the coming decades.
The expansion includes:
- Legalizing 12 existing unauthorized outposts
- Constructing 9 entirely new settlements
- Designating a neighborhood within an existing settlement as an independent settlement
- Re-establishing settlements in areas evacuated during the 2005 Gaza disengagement
Smotrich called it a “historic decision,” adding on X: “We have succeeded in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision.
Palestinian and International Condemnation
Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the settlement announcement as a “dangerous escalation and a challenge to international legitimacy and international law,” warning it would “perpetuate regional violence and instability.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri described it as “part of the war led by Netanyahu against the Palestinian people,” while the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement called it “a colonial scheme to completely annex the West Bank.
France’s Recognition Timeline
Macron had first signaled France’s intention to recognize Palestinian statehood in April, suggesting it could happen at a UN conference co-hosted with Saudi Arabia scheduled for June 17-20 in New York. The conference aims to lay out parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state while ensuring Israel’s security.
We need to move towards recognition. And so over the next few months, we will. I’m not doing it to please anyone. I’ll do it because at some point it will be right,” Macron had said in April.
France would become the first Western heavyweight and the first permanent member of the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state, potentially giving greater momentum to a movement that has so far been dominated by smaller nations more critical of Israel.
Wider European Context
Nearly 150 countries currently recognize Palestine as a state, with Ireland, Norway, Spain, and Slovenia joining in 2024. However, major Western powers including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia have withheld recognition.
Macron suggested that recognition could be accompanied by conditions including:
- The release of hostages held by Hamas
- The demilitarization of Hamas
- Hamas’s exclusion from governing any future Palestinian state
- Palestinian recognition of Israel’s right to exist and defend itself
Regional Implications
The diplomatic crisis comes as violence in the West Bank continues to escalate. According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, between January 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025, at least 616 Palestinians, including 115 children, were killed by settlers or the Israeli military in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the UN has warned that the entire population faces famine risk following Israel’s intensified military offensive against Hamas, with international pressure mounting for improved humanitarian access.
France-Indonesia Joint Statement
During his Asian tour, Macron and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto issued a joint statement condemning Israeli plans to take control of Gaza and any moves to “forcibly remove the Palestinian population from their homeland,” further signaling France’s hardening stance.
As tensions between Paris and Jerusalem reach new lows, the settlement expansion and recognition debate have become proxy battles in the larger struggle over the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides using increasingly confrontational rhetoric to stake out their positions on the international stage.
