Ofer Bronchtein, the activist for Palestinian state recognition who has Macron's ear

Ofer Bronchtein at his home in Paris, on October 10, 2025. AGNÈS DHERBEYS/MYOP FOR LE MONDE

For a moment, he thought his role would end there. That he had "done the job." Coming back from New York on September 24, flying aboard the French president's plane, Ofer Bronchtein wavered between euphoria and melancholy. Just 48 hours earlier, Bronchtein, a French-Israeli informal adviser to Emmanuel Macron, had watched on, with misty eyes, as the French president delivered a speech from the podium at the United Nations, where the Israeli delegation was notably absent.

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Macron's full speech on France's recognition of the State of Palestine

"The time has come," Macron said, condemning the "barbarity" of Hamas, which committed the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel, and "the denial of one another's humanity" in Gaza, where starving civilians have been targeted by the Israeli army. "True to my country's historic commitment in the Near East to peace between the Israeli people and the Palestinian people, I declare that France recognizes the State of Palestine today," the French president continued.