French President Emmanuel Macron was likely motivated to declare his intent to recognize Palestine by a desire to quell Islamic separatism in his own country.
The decision, announced on Thursday, is a break from the ranks of the European establishment, which has offered limp support to a two-state solution without daring to recognize the territories during the ongoing conflict with Israel.
Growing discontent within his own nation’s borders, concerns about religious extremism, and a government report pushing for Palestinian state recognition point to the idea that his decision might have been motivated by self-interest.
“France’s recent decision to recognize a Palestinian state must be motivated by domestic French politics, because it certainly does nothing to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace,” Orde Kittrie, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and law professor at Arizona State University, speculated to the Washington Examiner.
Kittrie, who also served for over a decade as an attorney at the United States’s State Department, pointed to the tumultuous relationship between the French government and Islamic communities within its borders as a possible motivator.
“France’s Muslim population numbers over 6 million, the largest in Europe, and Macron has recently undertaken a crackdown on what he calls Islamic separatism in France, which has led to accusations that his government is making it harder for Muslims to express their identity.”
She continued, “Macron’s foreign policy move to throw Israel under the bus was evidently taken to appease Muslim critics of his domestic crackdown on Islamic separatism.”
The assertion that Macron is offering gestures towards Palestine for domestic benefit is not without basis. The French government itself has acknowledged that such a move could help appease Muslim citizens, who accuse their leaders of Islamophobia.
The French Ministry of Interior released a report in May that noted a “tense climate prevailing in France following October 7 between Jewish and Muslim communities” and “deep unease within the latter, which perceives the French position as openly pro-Israel, in line with an alleged ‘state Islamophobia,’ supporting Jewish Israelis against Muslim Palestinians.”
The report claimed that this dichotomy is being weaponized by the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremist groups operating clandestinely in France to radicalize Muslim citizens.
The Interior Ministry report explicitly suggested the recognition of Palestine as a means of quelling Islamic unrest, according to a translation from the Center for Security Policy.
“To counter this narrative, and independently of the measures mentioned in this report that would reaffirm that Muslim faith and culture are as respectable as others and that the Republic guarantees their free exercise and manifestation, France’s recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel within secure and recognized borders could help alleviate these frustrations.”
France is home to approximately 9 million Muslims, the second-largest religion in the country behind Christianity.
The country has passed an abundance of laws cracking down on what Macron calls “Islamic separatism,” an ideology he believes is an “enemy of the Republic”. Previous laws restricting religious expression in public spaces have been augmented by crackdowns on illicit Islamic homeschools, doctors providing “virginity certificates,” instances of clandestine polygamy, and reports of forced marriages.
These measures have only inflamed tensions between Muslims and the rest of French society.
If Macron was hoping for support in his decision from across the Atlantic, he is likely disappointed.
President Donald Trump dismissed the announcement as meaningless while speaking to Friday’s reporters at the White House.
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“What he says doesn’t matter,” Trump said. “He’s a very good guy. I like him. But that statement doesn’t carry weight.”
Kittrie claims the French government’s decision to appease Palestinian leaders is weakening U.S. negotiating positions, providing the illusion of a path forward outside previously established demands.
“Macron’s statement undercuts both the United States and Middle East peace by relieving pressure on the Palestinians to compromise with Israel,” she explained to the Washington Examiner. “Hamas is a lot less likely to agree to release the hostages, and Abbas is a lot less likely to agree to peace with Israel, when European leaders like Macron are making unilateral concessions.”
France’s decision is expected to be formalized at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
