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New French president 'will not recognise Palestine'

May 20, 2017 at 4:02 pm

Emmanuel Macron makes a speech after winning the 2017 French election at the Esplanade du Louvre in Paris, France on May 07, 2017 [Mustafa Yalçın/Anadolu Agency]

Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron has reiterated that he will not recognise Palestine as a state as it would hinder good relations between Israel and France

Prior to his election win, Macron said he backs a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that recognising Palestine would cause instability and he would not risk France’s relationship with Israel to serve the Palestinian agenda. At a political rally Macron said:

Unilateral recognition of Palestine, right now, will undermine stability,

That’s right. France’s new liberal president would rather maintain good relations with Israel than recognize “Palestine.”

French Jews may have voted en masse for Emmanuel Macron in the final round of France’s presidential elections, but that doesn’t make him their dream president.

Like many other supporters of the 39-year-old former investment banker, who became the youngest French president in recent history, Jews voted for Macron mainly to block his far-right opponent, Marine Le Pen. The centrist won with 65 percent of the vote, to 34 percent for Le Pen.