Israel National News reports: “French President Emmanuel Macron defended his country’s push to recognize a Palestinian state, arguing it is the only way to ‘isolate Hamas’ and counter what he called ‘a failure’ of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

During an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News anchor Yonit Levi which aired on Thursday, Macron stated that his decision to move forward with recognition was not a reward for terrorism, as Israel has said, despite Hamas having welcomed the move.

Levi began the interview by questioning Macron’s shift from being a staunch ally of Israel after the October 7th attack to now spearheading a move that many Israelis believe rewards Hamas’s actions.

Macron responded, ‘I think everybody here does respect and shares this trauma and infinite pain. We condemned the terrorist attack of Hamas. Our top priority remains the release of all hostages. We recognize the right of Israel to defend itself. But when Israel started to have a sort of permanent war in Gaza, we expressed a disagreement very respectfully but very clearly.’

Macron claimed that Israel’s actions in Gaza are ‘totally counterproductive’ and are ‘completely destroying the image and the credibility of Israel, not just in the region but in public opinions everywhere.’ He also criticized a recent vote by the Knesset that he said would ‘restore the colonization and the end of West Bank,’ asserting that this has ‘nothing to do with Hamas.’…”