[Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”]
Yes, 70% of the French, just polled, are opposed to their country recognizing a “Palestinian state.” But that won’t stop Emmanuel Macron, so “sûr de lui-même et dominateur” — the phrase that De Gaulle shamefully used to describe the Jews after the Six-Day War — “sure of themselves and dominating.” Seventy percent of the French, and if you deduct for the Muslims who were included in the opinion poll, 100% of whom would support Macron’s decision to recognize “a state of Palestine,” and focus only on the French who replied to the survey, the real number may be even higher, possibly 75% or 80% of the indigenous French are opposed to France rewarding Hamas by recognizing a “state of Palestine” without the terror group being required to release the hostages.
More on the overwhelming popular opposition in France to Macron’s moral and geopolitical madness can be found here: “France Set to Recognize Palestinian State Despite Majority of Citizens Opposing the Move, New Survey Shows,” by Ailin Vilches Arguello, Algemeiner, September 19, 2025:
More than 70 percent of the French people oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next week, according to a new study that highlights strong public opposition to the contentious diplomatic move.
A survey conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) on behalf of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), the main representative body of French Jews, found that only 29 percent of French citizens support Macron’s initiative.
On Monday, France is expected to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in New York, with a handful of other Western countries — including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia — poised to follow suit.
However, the majority of the French people oppose the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, with 71 percent rejecting any recognition before the release of all remaining Israeli hostages still held in Gaza and the surrender of Hamas, according to the newly released survey.
One question was not asked, but should be the next time this poll is conducted: “Do you oppose the creation of a Palestinian state if the hostages are released?”
The study also examined how this diplomatic initiative and the ongoing war in Gaza have fueled the ongoing surge of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment across France.
Nearly 70 percent of the French people view antisemitic incidents as a serious threat, not only to French Jews but to the society as a whole, the survey found.
Meanwhile, according to the data, 19 percent of French citizens consider it acceptable to target Jews due to the conflict in Gaza, with the figure rising to 31 percent among those aged 18 to 24….
Of those 19% of French citizens who think it acceptable to target Jews for retribution because of the war in Gaza, how many were Muslims? Muslims now make up 10% of the French population, so if 100% of them support attacks on Jews, which seems reasonable, that would account for more than half of that 19%. And that would mean that only 9% of the French agree that Jews were legitimate targets of attack because of the war in Gaza.
Israel is reportedly considering multiple retaliatory measures in response to Macron’s move, including accelerating West Bank annexations, closing the French consulate in Jerusalem, and seizing French-owned sites in Israel, such as the Sanctuary of the Eleona — a Christian pilgrimage destination….
The speeding up of annexation of areas in Judea and Samaria ought to be undertaken not in a spirit of retaliation, but because Israel has a perfect right — see the League of Nations’ Mandate for Palestine — to all the territory “from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea.”
Closing the French consulate might be a well-deserved riposte to Macron, as long as it doesn’t also inconvenience French people who make use of the consulate, including those who have made aliyah but maintain ties to France.
What Macron does not understand is that recognition of a Palestinian state does not weaken, but strengthens Hamas, that can then boast that it has not been defeated by Israel, and that it was only its steadfastness that has led Macron and other leaders to recognize a Palestinian state. Hamas will gloat over its “victory,” and many Palestinians will swallow the terror group’s claim.
Macron also fails to realize that the Palestinian Authority does not disagree with Hamas in wanting Israel to disappear. It differs only in tactics and timing. Hamas wants to continue to conduct a continuous terror war in the hope of demoralizing Israel, using up the Jewish state’s military manpower, encouraging out-migration by Jews, and keeping tens of thousands of Israeli reservists on duty when they are needed if the Israeli economy is to thrive. The PA takes a longer view. It is willing to accept a Palestinian state on part of the land that Israel now possesses, but intends to use that state as a launching pad for future attacks on Israel. The ultimate goal is for Israel to accept the PA’s conditions, including the “right of return” that would turn the Jewish state, swamped by those returnees who would be allowed to vote, into a Muslim-ruled polity. The PA is patient, and unlike Hamas, knows that relying on terror as the main weapon in the war to destroy Israel won’t work. Instead, the PA believes that the most useful tools to weaken the Jewish state involve diplomatic isolation and economic sanctions, and these may take many years to have the desired effect. Hamas thinks only in terms of terror, employed constantly, right here and right now.
