Recognizing Palestine: 'It was becoming dishonorable to do nothing,' says ex-French foreign minister

Former French foreign affairs minister Hubert Védrine, in Paris, on March 26, 2024. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP

President Emmanuel Macron announced, on Thursday, July 24, that France would recognize the State of Palestine in September, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He hopes this move will "make a decisive contribution to peace in the Middle East," as the suffering of the Gaza Strip's civilian population continually reaches unprecedented levels.

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Macron decides to recognize State of Palestine amid diplomatic impasse and humanitarian disaster in Gaza

Hubert Védrine, who served as France's foreign affairs minister between 1997 and 2002 under President Jacques Chirac and was also a diplomatic adviser to Chirac's predecessor François Mitterrand, supports the current president's decision. His response to critics of Macron's move, as he states in an interview with Le Monde, is to ask: "In what way would it have been useful to do nothing?" He added that "it is Netanyahu's Israel that is becoming increasingly isolated, not France."