Netanyahu Blocks Macron’s Visit Amid Clash Over Palestinian State Recognition

By: Fern Sidman

The already fraught diplomatic relationship between Jerusalem and Paris has taken another turn, after French President Emmanuel Macron’s request to make a snap visit to Israel was rebuffed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a report aired Wednesday night by Kan 11 News. As Israel National News (INN) reported on Thursday, the refusal was not without conditions: Netanyahu made clear that Macron would first have to retract his intention to recognize a Palestinian state if he wished to be received in Israel. Macron reportedly declined.

An Israeli source, quoted by Kan 11 and cited in the INN report, explained bluntly: “We won’t let Macron play both sides.” This terse remark encapsulates the core of Israel’s unease—Macron’s attempt to couple overtures toward Israel with policy moves widely perceived in Jerusalem as undermining Israeli security and legitimizing Hamas.

Former French parliamentarian Meyer Habib, known for his close ties to Israel, corroborated the report, telling Kan 11 that Macron had indeed sought to visit. According to Habib, “Macron sent a message to Netanyahu expressing his desire to come, but Netanyahu responded that under the current circumstances, it’s not the right time for a visit.”

The rebuff marks a striking moment in Franco-Israeli relations. Heads of state, especially from major Western powers, are typically welcomed in Israel even amid tensions. Netanyahu’s rejection suggests that Macron’s September 22 declaration at the United Nations General Assembly—his intention to formally recognize a Palestinian state—crossed a red line.

As Israel National News has detailed in recent weeks, Macron’s stance on Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon has consistently strained ties. The French leader has twice called for an arms embargo against Israel, insisting that “stopping the export of weapons” is the only way to end fighting with Hamas and Hezbollah. Such language not only angered Jerusalem but was also interpreted as tacitly placing blame for ongoing hostilities on Israel, rather than on the terror organizations launching attacks against it.

More recently, Macron warned that Israel’s operations in Gaza may constitute breaches of international humanitarian law. For Netanyahu’s government, which has insisted that its strikes are carefully targeted against Hamas infrastructure while operating under some of the strictest ethical codes of any modern army, this kind of criticism appeared to delegitimize Israel’s right to self-defense.

The tensions escalated further when Netanyahu addressed Macron directly in late August. In a sharply worded letter, the Israeli prime minister accused the French president of exacerbating antisemitism within France by pressing for recognition of a Palestinian state.

“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire,” Netanyahu wrote, as reported by INN. “It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas’s refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.”

The language emphasized Netanyahu’s conviction that the European rush toward recognizing a Palestinian state in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 massacre—an atrocity in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds kidnapped—signals to both terror groups and antisemites that violence reaps political dividends.

The French Presidency reacted with fury, calling Netanyahu’s accusation “abject” and “erroneous.” Paris insisted that “France protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens.” Nevertheless, as the INN report pointed out, French Jewry has endured a disturbing surge in antisemitic incidents since the October 7 massacre and the ensuing Gaza war, raising questions about the effectiveness of state protection.

From Israel’s vantage point, Macron’s posture reflects a troubling duality. On the one hand, he gestures toward solidarity with Israel and recognition of its suffering in the face of terrorism. On the other, he simultaneously entertains Hamas’s political demands by pressing for Palestinian statehood absent any guarantees of Israel’s security, release of hostages, or renunciation of violence.

“We won’t let Macron play both sides,” the unnamed Israeli source told Kan 11, summing up Netanyahu’s rationale for rejecting the proposed visit. To host the French president while he moves ahead with Palestinian state recognition, the source implied, would grant him legitimacy and allow him to straddle incompatible positions.

The snub is more than symbolic. France is one of Israel’s most influential interlocutors in Europe, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and a key partner in Middle East diplomacy. For Israel to deny Macron a visit signals both exasperation with his rhetoric and a determination to challenge European momentum toward recognition of a Palestinian state.

As INN has consistently reported, Netanyahu views such recognitions as “rewarding terror.” In his calculus, any unilateral recognition under current conditions would embolden Hamas, harden the resolve of Hezbollah and other Iran-backed proxies, and demoralize Israel’s allies who insist peace must be built on direct negotiations.

Macron himself has cultivated an image of international statesmanship, frequently seeking to position France as a mediator in global crises. His attempt to push for recognition of Palestinian statehood, alongside France’s calls for arms embargoes, reflects both domestic political calculations and his broader vision of French influence in the Middle East.

Yet, as INN and other Israeli outlets have noted, Macron’s balancing act has left him mistrusted in Jerusalem. For many Israelis, his stance epitomizes a European reflex to pressure Israel rather than confront the root causes of conflict: Hamas’s ideology of annihilation and Iran’s regional destabilization.

The fallout from Macron’s refused visit underscores the fragility of Israel’s relationship with Europe at a time of acute regional crisis. While Germany, Austria, and several Central European states continue to emphasize solidarity with Israel, others—most prominently France, Spain, and Ireland—have increasingly voiced support for Palestinian statehood absent peace talks.

For Netanyahu, the challenge is both diplomatic and strategic: preventing Israel’s isolation while maintaining its freedom of action in Gaza and beyond. The rebuke of Macron signals that Israel is willing to risk further alienating Paris to safeguard its red lines.

As the report at Israel National News stressed, Netanyahu’s rejection of Macron is not merely a matter of protocol—it is a calculated stand against what he perceives as appeasement of terror. Whether this approach succeeds in reshaping European discourse or deepens Israel’s diplomatic rift with France remains to be seen.