Trump rejects Macron move as US skips UN summit on Palestinian state
The event was originally planned for June with French President Emmanuel Macron in attendance but was postponed due to the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Representatives from more than 50 nations are expected to speak at the High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, with dozens of additional countries listed as participants.
Reuters reported last month that a U.S. diplomatic cable had urged governments to skip the "counterproductive" U.N. event, which Washington described as an obstacle to efforts to end the war in Gaza.
"The fact that the French and the Saudis could not be dissuaded from manufacturing this latest stumbling block to peace is a finger in the eye to President Trump," Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices and director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, told Fox News Digital.
"American taxpayers are paying a quarter of the costs of this U.N. monstrosity, warmongers dressed up as peaceniks. Why are we still footing U.N. bills?"
Bayefsky added, "This latest U.N. confab embodies the rejectionist culture: shove a Palestinian state down Israel's throat, without negotiations, and without Palestinian acceptance of the Jewish state. It arrogantly appropriates the right to decide land ownership and who, what, where is legal and illegal.
"After October 7, and the reality that the Palestinian Authority serves as Hamas's wingman on the international stage, it is painfully clear that an armed Palestinian state means more war, not peace," she said.
In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that "the prospect of a Palestinian state has never been so threatened—nor so necessary."
"[It is] threatened by the destruction of the Gaza Strip, rampant Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank that undermines the very idea of territorial continuity, and the resignation of the international community," he said.
"[It is] necessary, because expecting to achieve a lasting ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Hamas, and its surrender without first outlining a political horizon is an illusion," he added.
Monday's event comes on the backdrop of Macron's decision to recognize a Palestinian state. The formal declaration would be made at the U.N. General Assembly in September.
President Donald Trump immediately dismissed the move, arguing that Macron's statement "doesn't matter."
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee mocked Paris' decision in a series of social media posts. "How clever! If Macron can just 'declare' the existence of a state perhaps the U.K. can 'declare' France a British colony!" Huckabee wrote.
In May, Huckabee told Fox News Digital, "If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I have a suggestion for them—carve out a piece of the French Riviera."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement condemning Paris' move "to recognize a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre."
Key European nations have not yet backed Macron's initiative, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stating on Saturday that recognizing a Palestinian state was premature.
"I am very much in favor of the State of Palestine, but I am not in favor of recognizing it prior to establishing it," Meloni said. "If something that doesn't exist is recognized on paper, the problem could appear to be solved when it isn't."
A German government spokesperson said on Friday, "Israel's security is of paramount importance," and therefore Berlin "has no plans to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term."
In a video statement on Friday, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is "working on a pathway to peace in the region focused on the practical solutions that will make a real difference to the lives of those who are suffering in this war."
By contrast, NATO member and U.S. ally Turkey welcomed the French move, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulating Macron during a phone call between the two leaders.
Avi Pazner, former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy, told Fox News Digital that there is "no rational explanation" for Macron's decision, as everyone understands that it is "not feasible."
Pazner suggested that Macron may be attempting to gain credibility with France's significant Muslim and Arab minorities, which some estimate to be between 8%- 10% of the country.
Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former negotiator at the State Department under both Democratic and Republican administrations, told Fox News Digital that Trump has his own set of objectives and sensibilities regarding the issue of Palestinian statehood.
"It was the view of successive administrations that unilateral statehood would prejudge and undermine the conditions necessary for negotiations," he added. "If France is recognizing a Palestinian state, within what borders? What happens to Jerusalem? What about the Jordan Valley? Would land swaps compensate for territory deemed essential by Israel for security? Declaring statehood prematurely prejudges the outcome of negotiations, and that was the position taken by these administrations."
The French and Saudi-sponsored conference is expected to run through Tuesday.
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