Despite recognition, France won’t open Palestinian embassy – Macron

With France poised to recognize Palestinian statehood on Monday, President Emmanuel Macron sets condition for opening up an embassy in Ramallah.

By World Israel News Staff

French President Emmanuel Macron hinted Sunday that his country’s recognition of Palestinian statehood will be limited for the time being, with no French embassy slated to be opened in Ramallah in the near future.

France is poised to formally announce its recognition of Palestinian statehood on Monday, a day after Britain, Portugal, Australia, and Canada all issued declarations recognizing the Palestinian Authority as an independent, sovereign state.

However, France is conditioning the full establishment of diplomatic relations – including the opening of a French embassy in Ramallah – on changes on the ground, chief among them, the release of the 48 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking with CBS ahead of the beginning of the United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Week, Macron said that “recognition is the beginning of a political process,” and that the establishment of full relations would take time.

Macron explicitly conditioned the opening of a full diplomatic mission to the newly recognized Palestinian state on the return of Israeli hostages.

“For me, the top priority remains the release of hostages,” Macron said. “And I met very regularly families of hostages, and I have to say that what they live is unbearable.”

The French president added that Hamas must not have a role in the Ramallah government, and claimed that the effort led by his government and by Saudi Arabia to expand international recognition of Palestinian statehood has actually isolated Hamas.

“Hamas is just obsessed by destroying Israel,” Macron continued. “Thanks to the diplomatic move we launched, we started to isolate Hamas because we, at the New York declaration, which was voted, as you know, by 142 countries. We gathered all the Arab League states, all the leaders of the regions, to work closely with us to precisely dismantle and disarm Hamas.”