Israel Calls Macron West Bank Remarks 'Grotesque Absurdity' — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Netanyahu's office called Macron's UN remarks 'grotesque absurdity,' saying Hamas terrorists attack Jews 'almost every day' in the West Bank and have murdered countless Israeli civilians there.
- Israel cited the Sunday shooting death of settler Netanel Shukrun — a father of six who also held French citizenship — on the eve of Yom Kippur; the military arrested the Palestinian gunman at a hospital.
- A minister in Netanyahu's government called for the gunman's execution under a newly enacted law, escalating the political response.
- Macron used his UN speech to condemn both the Gaza humanitarian situation, saying humanitarian deliveries had not resumed despite claims of peace, and what he called daily violations in the West Bank, arguing Hamas 'has never struck' there.
- The United Nations recorded roughly six settler-related violent incidents against Palestinians or their property daily in the West Bank through mid-2026, context that undercuts Netanyahu's framing of the territory.
- France recently joined Britain in imposing sanctions on products from Israeli settlements, further straining ties; Netanyahu and Macron already had poor relations after France led last year's Western push to recognize a Palestinian state.
- Netanyahu is expected to deliver a defiant address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
Why it matters: The clash deepens the diplomatic rift between Israel and its key Western backers, with France now aligned with Britain on settlement sanctions while Netanyahu readies a combative UNGA speech. With France holding a dual citizen among recent West Bank victims, the dispute is no longer abstract — it gives Macron a personal stake and Israel a pointed counterexample, raising the cost of any de-escalation gesture from Paris.
Ask SkimNews
