Recognizing Palestine today, in the midst of a war that Hamas started on October 7 nearly two years ago, and while it still refuses to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, is not a contribution to peace.
President Emmanuel Macron’s recent decision to recognize a Palestinian state is a strategic miscalculation, a diplomatic illusion, and a domestic gamble that could come at a steep price. It neither serves the cause of peace nor advances French national interests. Worse, it risks inflaming internal tensions and placing France’s Jewish citizens in growing danger.
Let’s be clear: Recognizing Palestine today, in the midst of a war that Hamas started on October 7 nearly two years ago, and while it still refuses to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, is not a contribution to peace. It sends the wrong message at the worst possible time. It signals that violence pays and terrorism yields diplomatic gains. France has surrendered and is no longer conditioning such recognition on democratic governance, renunciation of violence, and negotiation.
Macron’s move lacks geopolitical heft. It changes nothing on the ground. It does not restart a peace process. It does not enhance France’s standing on the global stage. On the contrary – France finds itself marginalized in Washington, ignored in Jerusalem, and largely irrelevant in Kyiv. After the collapse of its traditional spheres of influence in Africa, Macron is seeking a platform to regain global relevance. By spearheading a gesture that is dramatic yet empty, he is a leader in search of a legacy.
Were other key Western states like Canada or the United Kingdom to follow suit, Macron might claim to have reshaped the stubborn Middle Eastern landscape. But if his initiative falters – and signs seem to point in that direction – France will appear isolated, its credibility diminished, and its moral authority further eroded.
Yet the real danger is domestic. By singling out Israel – and only Israel – for scrutiny and condemnation, Macron feeds into an increasingly hostile political climate in France, where anti-Zionism masks more ancient hatreds. The result is that French Jews, already vulnerable, are placed under further suspicion and threat.
The national conversation is already out of whack. Hamas atrocities are downplayed, and Israeli self-defense is scrutinized. When the public discourse in France speaks only of Gaza while ignoring local antisemitic acts or Jewish insecurity, the message is that Jews are not quite part of the national “nous [us].”
Empirical data supports this concern. A major US study surveying over 14,000 students across 140 campuses found that when anti-Israel activism (BDS and other) intensifies, Jewish students report heightened fear, conceal their identities, and withdraw from campus life. Though framed as political critique, anti-Zionist agitation creates a social atmosphere in which Jews are delegitimized – not because of what they do, but because of who they are.
The Jews of France feel this deeply. They sense that they are becoming strangers in their own land, blamed for conflicts far beyond their control. And while France, in the name of secularism, does not collect statistics on religion or ethnicity, the unease is visible: rising enrollments in Jewish schools, synagogues under police protection, and increasing talk of emigration. When the state turns Israel into a political scapegoat, its Jewish citizens become collateral damage.
This is not diplomacy. It is a performance – not leadership – but self-serving political maneuvering.
Macron’s frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be understandable. However, foreign policy should not serve as a tool for personal vindication or domestic appeasement. The president’s decision, framed as a moral stance, in fact betrays both moral clarity and national cohesion.
France could have played a constructive role: supporting moderate forces, promoting realistic compromise, and defending democratic values. Instead, it has chosen symbolism over substance. And it is France – not just Israel – that will bear the consequences.