U.S. envoy says France can ‘carve' Palestinian state out of Riviera
U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, center, visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has lashed out at France's advocacy for recognition of a Palestinian state, saying that if it supported such an outcome it could 'carve out a piece of the French Riviera' and create one.
France is co-chairing with Saudi Arabia this month an international conference at the United Nations aimed at resurrecting the idea of a two-state solution, which the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes.
Paris has also said it could recognise a Palestinian state itself this year.
In an interview with Fox News published on Saturday, Huckabee called the initiative at the UN 'incredibly inappropriate when Israel is in the midst of a war'.
'October 7 changed a lot of things,' he said, referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
'If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I've got a suggestion for them -- carve out a piece of the French Riviera and create a Palestinian state. They are welcome to do that, but they are not welcome to impose that kind of pressure on a sovereign nation.'
Israel on Friday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of undertaking a 'crusade against the Jewish state' after he called for European countries to harden their stance on Israel if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve.
The day before, Israel announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank, with Defence Minister Israel Katz later vowing to build a 'Jewish Israeli state' in the occupied territory.
The settlements are regularly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law, and are seen as a major obstacle to the two-state solution.
But Huckabee, a staunch advocate for Israel, has said there is 'no such thing as an occupation' when it comes to the Palestinian territories.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
6 hours ago
- CBC
Trump signs order to ban visitors from 12 countries starting Monday
U.S. President Donald Trump is resurrecting the travel ban policy from his first term, signing a proclamation Wednesday night preventing people from a dozen countries from entering the United States. The countries include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In addition to the ban, which takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, there will be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. "I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people," Trump said in his proclamation. Ten of the 19 countries under the bans and restrictions are in Africa, nine of those from majority Black African countries. Several of those, including Sierra Leone, Togo and Equatorial Guinea, are not known for hosting armed groups that pose a major threat to the West. The list results from a Jan. 20 executive order Trump issued requiring the federal departments of State and Homeland Security and the U.S. Director of National Intelligence to compile a report on "hostile attitudes" toward the U.S. and whether entry from certain countries represented a national security risk. Echoes of prior ban in 1st Trump term During his first term, Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young, first presidency. Travellers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights to the U.S. or detained at airports after they had landed. They included students and faculty as well as businesspeople, tourists and people visiting friends and family. The order, often referred to as the "Muslim ban" or the "travel ban," was retooled amid legal challenges, until a version was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018. The ban affected various categories of travellers and immigrants from Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Libya, plus North Koreans and some Venezuelan government officials and their families. Trump and others have defended the initial ban on national security grounds, arguing it was aimed at protecting the country and not founded on anti-Muslim bias. However, the president had called for an explicit ban on Muslims entering the U.S. during his first campaign for the White House.
Globe and Mail
8 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
RCMP investigating Israel-Hamas conflict for possible war crimes
The RCMP is engaged in an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the continuing conflict between Israel and Hamas. In a statement released Wednesday, the RCMP said that it initiated a structural investigation in early 2024, which is 'a broad, intelligence-led intake process designed to collect, preserve and assess information potentially relevant under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.' The act implements Canada's obligations under the Rome Statute, that treaty that established the International Criminal Court. 'The RCMP remains committed to its mandate under Canadian law, to assess credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity,' the RCMP said. The investigation includes gathering open-source material and voluntary submissions, the RCMP said, and the intent is to collect information that could support future investigative steps, if jurisdictional and legal thresholds are met. The RCMP is also investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine. Opinion: The RCMP investigation on the Gaza war shows Canada's approach to Israel could be changing According to the Department of Justice, the intention of Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program is to 'deny safe haven in Canada to persons believed to have committed or been complicit in such crimes, and to seek accountability for their conduct.' The program is undertaken by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Department of Justice and the RCMP. The Toronto Star first reported on Monday that the RCMP was investigating potential war crimes related to the Israel and Hamas conflict. The Globe and Mail asked the RCMP a series of questions on Tuesday, but the force did not respond. On Wednesday, the RCMP released a statement saying that because of recent media coverage about its investigation related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, it sought to clarify information. The RCMP sought to urge the public to refrain from drawing conclusions, adding: 'This initiative is solely focused on collecting relevant information and does not target any community or group.' It said that it has a protocol to triage and process information related to global conflicts, which is a standard initial procedure and is the foundation for every case, 'after which specialized investigative techniques are applied to address the unique aspects of each investigation, including the Israel-Hamas structural investigation.' 'Should a perpetrator of core international crimes – such as genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity – with the appropriate nexus to Canada be identified, the RCMP will initiate a separate criminal investigation.' So far, the RCMP said it has not done so. The statement said the structural investigation had not been publicly announced because the RCMP is developing 'essential supporting operational tools,' including a secure online portal, which will be available in English, French, Hebrew and Arabic, to facilitate submissions. Technical challenges, the statement continued, have resulted in delays. The RCMP said it will advise the public when the online portal is ready. The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an assault that killed more than 1,200 people. Hamas abducted 251 people and is still holding 58 hostages, about one-third of whom are thought to be alive. Many of the hostages have been released under previous temporary ceasefires or agreements. Israel's military has killed more than 54,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. For weeks United Nations agencies have warned that people living in Gaza are at risk of famine. Mark Kersten, an assistant professor at the University of the Fraser Valley and consultant at the Wayamo Foundation, a Berlin-based non-profit that works to strengthen the rule of law and promote justice for international and transnational crimes, said the statement from the RCMP on its work raises a lot of questions. Mr. Kersten said it is striking that the RCMP launched a structural investigation before having the online portal set up, which will allow people to voluntarily provide information or evidence, and that it waited more than a year to acknowledge this. He wondered if the structural investigation into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine had the same challenges. 'If the RCMP was doing such open-ended work without any concrete commitment to accountability, why would it take one-and-a-half years to say anything about it?' Mr. Kersten said the RCMP 'seems to be at pains to explain what it is not doing – any criminal investigation into atrocity crimes – with very little in terms of what it is doing. And if it won't commit to pursuing any criminal prosecutions in its structural investigation, then why would people submit their evidence to the portal?' With a report from The Associated Press
CTV News
12 hours ago
- CTV News
Syria to give inspectors immediate access to suspected ex-nuclear sites: UN watchdog
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's new government has agreed to give inspectors from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog access to suspected former nuclear sites immediately, the agency's head told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency's director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, spoke in an exclusive interview in Damascus, where he met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and other officials. He also said al-Sharaa expressed an interest in pursuing nuclear energy for Syria in the future, adding, 'Why not?' The agency's aim is 'to bring total clarity over certain activities that took place in the past that were, in the judgment of the agency, probably related to nuclear weapons,' Grossi said. He described the new government as 'committed to opening up to the world, to international cooperation' and said he is hopeful of finishing the inspection process within months. An IAEA team in 2024 visited some sites of interest while former President Bashar Assad was still in power. Since the fall of Assad in December, the IAEA has been seeking to restore access to sites associated with Syria's nuclear program. Syria under Assad is believed to have operated an extensive clandestine nuclear program, which included an undeclared nuclear reactor built by North Korea in eastern Deir el-Zour province. The IAEA described the reactor as being 'not configured to produce electricity' — raising the concern that Damascus sought a nuclear weapon there by producing weapons-grade plutonium. The reactor site only became public knowledge after Israel, the Mideast's only nuclear power, launched airstrikes in 2007 destroying the facility. Syria later leveled the site and never responded fully to the IAEA's questions. Grossi said inspectors plan to return to the reactor in Deir el-Zour as well as to three other related sites. Other sites under IAEA safeguards include a miniature neutron source reactor in Damascus and a facility in Homs that can process yellow-cake uranium. 'We are trying to narrow down the focus, to those or that one that could be of a real interest,' he said. While there are no indications that there have been releases of radiation from the sites, he said, the watchdog is concerned that 'enriched uranium can be lying somewhere and could be reused, could be smuggled, could be trafficked.' He said al-Sharaa — who has courted Western governments since taking power — had shown a 'very positive disposition to talk to us and to allow us to carry out the activities we need to.' Apart from resuming inspections, Grossi said the IAEA is prepared to transfer equipment for nuclear medicine and to help rebuild the radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and oncology infrastructure in a health system severely weakened by nearly 14 years of civil war. 'And the president has expressed to me he's interested in exploring, in the future, nuclear energy as well,' Grossi said. A number of other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan, are pursuing nuclear energy in some form. Grossi said Syria would most likely be looking into small modular reactors, which are cheaper and easier to deploy than traditional large ones. Talks on Iran Regarding the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran for a deal over Tehran's nuclear program, Grossi said he has been in 'constant contact' with the parties. 'They are negotiating, it's not us, but it is obvious that the IAEA will have to be the guarantor of whichever agreement they come to,' he said. While there continue to be major areas of contention between the two sides — particularly over uranium enrichment — Grossi said he is encouraged that they are negotiating directly, and he believes both sides are serious about reaching a deal. 'I think they both want an agreement, which doesn't mean that it's easy to get, but, simple and obvious as this may sound, having two sides that want an agreement is an enormous advantage,' he said. 'In my long diplomatic career, I have participated in negotiations where it was not necessarily the case that the sides wanted an agreement.' ___ Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. Abby Sewell, The Associated Press
