CRIF President Yonathan Arfi at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, July 3, 2025. BERTRAND GUAY / AFP
Their response was swift. Representative bodies and religious authorities of the French Jewish community voiced their doubts, and for some, even their opposition, just hours after Emmanuel Macron announced, on Thursday evening, July 24, his intention to recognize a Palestinian state. Taking a leading stance on the issue, on which it had already expressed its opinion several times, the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) immediately condemned in a press release "a moral failing, a diplomatic mistake and a political danger."
The organization had previously published a similar statement in Le Figaro in June, when the president was considering the initiative but postponed it at the last minute. The organization believes that the planned recognition, scheduled for September, would "be brandished by Hamas as a symbolic victory." CRIF described it as "a reward for the October 7 terrorism, which left more than 1,200 victims, including 50 French citizens."
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Macron decides to recognize State of Palestine amid diplomatic impasse and humanitarian disaster in Gaza
