France continues to take steps against Israel. The country is currently considering opening an embassy in Palestinian Authority-controlled territory and allowing the PA to open an embassy in Paris after it recognizes a Palestinian state next month, President Emmanuel Macron's Middle Eastern affairs advisor, Ofer Bronchtein, told Israel's Channel 12.
Bronchtein added an especially inflammatory remark when he claimed that "October 7th would not have happened if there were a Palestinian state, since the stability derived from such a state would have prevented the disaster."
He claimed that "the war must end and the hostages must return home. Things must happen in the region, but the war will not allow for normalization between Israel and other countries. We are trying to prevent Israel from going into Gaza City and escalating the situation. There is no security or military justification for it, and it is not the way to free hostages."
The advisor made an implicit threat when he said that Paris hopes "not to have to impose sanctions" on Israel.
Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf responded by calling for the application of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. “If France recognizes a Palestinian state, it will in effect be supporting terror, murder, rape, and the massacre of the Jewish people. We should have applied sovereignty in Judea and Samaria already yesterday, regardless of France’s actions. This is the view by which I have acted and will continue to act in the government and behind closed doors. But if our application of sovereignty coincides with France’s recognition of a Palestinian state, it will be a fitting response and a clear message: the Land of Israel belongs to us in its entirety.”