Meyer Habib, a former member of the French National Assembly and Netanyahu confidante, recently revealed that French President Emmanuel Macron had planned a visit to Israel but was informed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was not welcome in the Jewish state.
This rebuff illustrates the anger at Macron for leading the charge for Palestine’s recognition that has put the Palestinian issue back at the center of the geopolitical debate, but it goes way beyond anger and retribution.
Israel's growing isolation
One of the key features of the situation in Israel is the country’s growing isolation. With threats or actual boycotts by companies or artists, Israeli sports teams booed, and tourists attacked or intimidated during their trips abroad, isolation is undeniable. Netanyahu’s cynical genius helped him turn what should be a liability into an asset, creating a feeling of unity not around him and his government but around the flag.
To many in Israel, the backlash against their country derives only from antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment that just needed an excuse to express itself. In many aspects, this feeling is understandable when one compares the backlash against Israel with other countries that are waging a war, but this is also a way to avoid harsh questions about how the war is waged.
Netanyahu has been able to avoid any kind of accountability for the colossal failure of October 7, and he’s now trying to also avoid that same accountability on how the war is handled and how Israel’s standing in the world is affected by it. To that end, it is critical for Netanyahu to maintain his narrative of “us against the world.”
The window Macron provides
This is where Macron’s visit in the wake of Palestine’s recognition would be dangerous for Netanyahu. Macron’s idea is that the best way to ensure Israel’s security is with a full regional integration through the recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state, with security guarantees and the end of Hamas.
This approach may be criticized as flawed or naive or not including enough conditions on the Palestinians – for instance, regarding the hostages or the reform of the Palestinian Authority – but it is not betrayal or a punishment against Israel. Neither is it a reward to Hamas, as claimed by the Israeli Right.
Netanyahu needs to present the war in Gaza as existential and avoid any discussion about diplomacy or the day after, to ensure his political survival and justify a war that has lost the international and domestic legitimacy it had in the beginning. Macron’s vision presents an alternative path and opens the possibility of showing Israelis that the world is not against Israel and that eternal war is not the only way forward.
Deeply unpopular in Israel and already weakened by massive rallies, Netanyahu does not want the cognitive bubble that exists all too often in Israel about the country’s isolation and the world’s antisemitism to burst with Macron’s visit.
Netanyahu’s very opposition to his trip should convince the French president that it is actually the right thing to do. He should therefore not come physically to Israel but engage with the Israelis through their media, even with disagreements, to show them they have friends that care and want the best for them, unlike their government, which combines far-right ideology with political opportunism.
Born and raised in France, the writer is a correspondent of French Jewish radio, Radio J, in the US, where he has been living for 15 years. He also holds US and Israeli citizenship. His opinions are his only.