Israel accused French President Emmanuel Macron of undertaking a "crusade against the Jewish state" on Friday, May 30, after he called for European countries to harden their stance on Israel if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve. "There is no humanitarian blockade. That is a blatant lie," Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement, defending its efforts to allow aid to enter the enclave. "But instead of applying pressure on the jihadist terrorists, Macron wants to reward them with a Palestinian state. No doubt its national day will be October 7," it added, alluding to the date of Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
Last week, Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on supplies entering Gaza, which is enduring severe shortages of food and medicines even as truckloads of humanitarian assistance have begun to trickle in.
Macron, meanwhile, has recently stepped up his statements of support toward Palestinians. On Friday, he said European countries should "harden the collective position" against Israel if it did not respond appropriately to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including keeping open the possibility of sanctions.
"If we abandon Gaza, if we consider there is a free pass for Israel, even if we do condemn the terrorist attacks, we will kill our credibility," Macron told a top defense forum in Singapore. He also called the recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, "not only a moral duty, but a political necessity."
France is co-hosting with Saudi Arabia an international conference at the UN in New York meant to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict – an outcome the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes.
In its statement Friday, the Israeli foreign ministry said: "Hamas, for its part, has already praised Macron's statements. Hamas knows why."