Israel reacted sharply to Emmanuel Macron's speech to the UN General Assembly after the French president defended the recognition of Palestine and described the presentation of Donald Trump's plan for Gaza as a "spectacle that should shame us", Reuters reported.
Macron said that "not a single humanitarian corridor is open" and that France could not remain indifferent after nearly ten countries had already recognized Palestine. According to him, the world cannot accept as a solution a policy that does not provide access to humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The French president also said that anyone who believes that violating the sovereignty of Israel's neighbors will guarantee the country's security is mistaken. He warned that such a course actually weakens Israel's security "both today and in the future."
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon has already reacted sharply to French plans to recognize a Palestinian state, describing such initiatives as "theater." France, for its part, has already tightened its stance against settler violence in the West Bank, imposing national sanctions and starting a procedure to ban products from Israeli settlements in the occupied territory.
Tensions between Paris and Jerusalem have also increased due to France's move toward more active support for a two-state solution. In his speech in New York, Macron placed Gaza and the West Bank at the center of his criticism of Israeli policy, and the Israeli response came in its usual harsh tone.
Sources: Reuters, BTA