“COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE”, “POINTLESS”
The leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, said the announcement was “rushed” and afforded Hamas “unexpected institutional and international legitimacy”.
On the other side of the political spectrum Jean-Luc Melenchon, boss of the far-left France Unbowed party, called Macron’s announcement “a moral victory”, although he deplored that it did not take effect immediately.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, a right winger whose relationship with Macron is tense, declined on Friday to give his opinion, saying he was currently busy with an unrelated “serious topic” linked to the “security of French people on holiday”.
But the vice president of his party, Les Republicains, Xavier Bellamy, blasted the decision as possibly “counter-productive” or, at best, “pointless”.
The move risked “endangering Israeli civilians” as well as “Palestinian civilians who are victims of Hamas’ barbarism”, he said.
Bellamy said that Macron’s move was a departure from the president’s previously set conditions for recognition of Palestine, which included a Hamas de-militarisation, the movement’s exclusion from any future government, the liberation of all Israeli hostages in Gaza and the recognition of Israel by several Arab states.
“None of them have been met,” he said.
While France would be the most significant European country to recognise a Palestinian state, others have hinted they could do the same.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he would hold a call on Friday with counterparts in Germany and France on efforts to stop the fighting, adding that a ceasefire would “put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state”.
Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all announced recognition following the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, along with several other non-European countries.
Once France follows through on its announcement, a total of at least 142 countries will have recognised Palestinian statehood.
