On Thursday, September 18, Charles Kushner doubled down. "Will France give recognition first and wait for Hamas to disarm second?" the US ambassador to Paris asked in a message posted on X. This was the second time in three weeks that Kushner, a close confidant of Donald Trump whose son, Jared, is married to Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump – questioned Emmanuel Macron's intention to recognize the State of Palestine. At the end of August, Kushner had refused to respond to a summons from France's Foreign Ministry after criticizing the French president's "lack of sufficient action" against antisemitism. He claimed this was fueled by the diplomatic initiative led by France to recognize the State of Palestine, echoing the position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a few days earlier. The Elysée responded to what it called an "unacceptable conflation," aiming to counter the crossfire unleashed by Israel and the United States.

French authorities are expecting Israeli reprisals after Macron delivers his speech recognizing Palestine on September 22 at the United Nations in New York, during a conference on the two-state solution co-organized by Paris and Riyadh. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) will speak remotely, as will Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was denied a visa by the Trump administration.

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