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President Emmanuel Macron of France also pushed back against accusations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had not done enough to protect French Jews from antisemitic attacks.
Aug. 26, 2025, 4:24 p.m. ET
President Emmanuel Macron of France said in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Tuesday that calling for the creation of an independent Palestinian state did not promote antisemitism.
To the contrary, he wrote, it is an “essential” path to security for Israel, as well as for Europe.
“Our determination to ensure that the Palestinian people have a State is rooted in our belief that a lasting peace is essential to the State of Israel’s security,” the French president said in the private letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
Mr. Macron, defending himself against accusations that he had not done enough to protect French Jews, also called antisemitic attacks in France “an abomination” and said that he had made the battle against such assaults an “absolute priority” since “day one.”
It was the latest development in the diplomatic dispute that spilled into the open with high-level public accusations and a flurry of published and leaked letters after Mr. Macron’s announcement last month that France would recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
Britain followed suit, announcing that it, too, would recognize a Palestinian state if there was no cease-fire agreement in Gaza.
Canada and Australia also said that they would recognize a Palestinian state, under certain conditions.
