An article by Yisrael Hayom reporter Shirit Avitan Hakohen demonstrates that Israel must respond to Macron’s announcement by going on the diplomatic offensive.

Earlier this week, the French Foreign Minister issued a statement against Israeli strikes on Hamas-affiliated civilians near aid trucks, and, of course, against what he described as starvation tactics — fully buying into Hamas’s propaganda campaign and disregarding the facts. Against that backdrop, tonight’s statement by the French President no longer seems so disconnected.

Macron is building the Palestinian state on the blood of the 1,200 victims of October 7, sending a simple message: the murder of Jews accelerates rewarding diplomatic processes. Murder equals recognition. This is the equation the French president is creating as he looks in fear at the changing streets of his own country. The Islamic takeover and the need to secure votes amidst his unstable political standing are the foundations of France’s obsessive engagement with the Middle East.

France’s cowardice has long been renowned throughout history, but this current campaign for a Palestinian state — while Hamas terrorists still hold fifty hostages and only today another terrorist ran over eight people in Kfar Yona — is truly breaking new records of detachment. It is a form of moral hypocrisy that Israel cannot afford to ignore, and the way to stop these moves is through offense, not just defense. The forced imposition of a Palestinian state against the backdrop of the barbarity of this nation’s terrorists — both within the country and on its borders — is unacceptable. Mere condemnations will not suffice.

Recognition of Judea and Samaria, downgrading diplomatic ties with France, or taking action against the Palestinian Authority — the toolbox must be creative, focused, and tough. There is no other way to wake the French President from his delusions. Only a diplomatic slap in the face will shake him from the dangerous illusions he is projecting onto the entire region.