Netanyahu tells Macron Palestinian state would be a ‘huge prize for terror’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to Palestinian statehood in a phone call Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron, the premier’s office said, days after his son hurled an obscenity at Macron for saying Paris could recognize a Palestinian state.
Macron, for his part, urged Netanyahu to halt the war and renew the flow of aid to Gaza, and said a two-state solution was critical to ensuring Israel’s security, according to a social media post by the French president. Neither Macron nor the Prime Minister’s Office mentioned Yair Netanyahu’s insult.
Israel shut down the entry of aid to Gaza on March 2, after the first phase of a ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas expired. Israel attempted to extend the first phase but refused to negotiate the second phase, which was supposed to see the end of fighting. Israel resumed hostilities in Gaza on March 18, some two months after the ceasefire was signed.
In a statement Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu told Macron that a Palestinian state would be a “huge prize for terror” following the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when the terror group stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
“A Palestinian state that is established a few minutes from Israeli cities will be a stronghold for Iranian terror and that a large majority of the Israeli public firmly opposes this – and this is also his consistent and long-standing policy,” said the PMO, referring to Iran’s support for regional terror proxies including Hamas.
The premier’s office said he also told Macron that no........
© The Times of Israel
