Is France’s Macron Seeking New Sponsors?

In a move that conspicuously undermined the Trump administration’s Middle East gambits while delivering a blow to Israeli interests, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, recently announced in a television interview that his country may soon recognize a Palestinian state.

Authorities in Paris are said to be considering the declaration as early as June when France will co-chair a UN conference in New York alongside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ostensibly to bring an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “We must take the path of recognition of the Palestinian state. So that’s what we’re going to do…” The aim, he said, would be to “finalize this movement of mutual recognition [of a Palestinian state] by several parties.” 

Unsurprisingly, the pronouncement caused a major upheaval in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issuing a strongly worded statement deeming the move “gravely mistaken,” while nodding to the security implications for his country.

While European showboating on Israel is hardly new, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs nevertheless seized on the French president’s statement as a “reward for terrorism,” a clear reference to the mass killings, rape, and destruction carried out on Israeli soil under the leadership of Hamas on October 7, 2023. Macron’s magical thinking notwithstanding, the French politician managed to avoid proffering an explanation for why he believes the foundations for a Palestinian state exist when its center of gravity remains so deeply contested.

Indeed, the community’s two enclaves, Gaza and the West Bank, have historically maintained distinct and separate leadership structures with a history of antagonism and bloodshed toward one another. The West Bank remains under the Palestinian Authority (PA) where it is headed by 89 year-old Mahmoud Abbas who was elected to a four-year term in 2006 following the death of his predecessor, the once chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and noted terrorist, Yasser Arafat. No elections have been held in the West Bank since, though Abbas recently announced (not for the first time) that he is prepared to hold elections “in the coming year.”

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By contrast, the Islamist Hamas, which initiated the October 7 terrorist attacks, violently ejected the PA and took over Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal of 2007. Unsurprisingly, no elections have occurred since. In fact, far from it – those opposed to Hamas have been tortured and killed. Meanwhile, 24 hostages taken in 2023, and still thought to be alive, have yet to be freed, and the corpses of some 35 additional hostages assumed to have been killed by Hamas fighters and their civilian followers are still being held in Gaza.

Perhaps the most outrageous aspect of Macron’s push for an independent Palestinian state is the hypocrisy. That the Palestinian cause is being championed by the head of a country that was once heralded for being among Europe’s leading colonial powers – and which still controls 13 distant former colonies, now rebranded as the “Overseas Territories,” would be humorous were it not for the geopolitical implications. Consider that France counts among its global assets Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, and the Wallis and Futuna islands – all lovely places, the populations of which surpass 2.6 million. Recent violence in New Caledonia serves as an example of the tensions that can and do boil over in French oversees territories, as well as the suppression of locals who wish to be independent.

France long maintained a tight grip on its former colonies in Africa through economic mechanisms like the CFA franc, a currency used by 14 African countries, pegged to the Euro, and underwritten by the French Treasury. Critics, such as Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, openly declared that the system impoverishes African nations (fueling migration to Europe) by forcing them to deposit large portions of their reserves into France’s central bank – over 80 percent of these reserves are held in “operations accounts” controlled by the French Treasury, totaling an estimated $500 billion. Di Maio even called on the European Union to impose sanctions on France for its policies in Africa. 

Nevertheless, the French grip is slipping. In 2023, France withdrew its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger following military coups and public backlash against its presence. The French embassy in Niger closed, marking a low point in relations as anti-French sentiment surged across the Sahel. By February 2025, reports noted France’s “full retreat” from Africa, with its military bases dwindling and trade with sub-Saharan Africa dropping to just 1.8 percent of exports and 1.9 percent of imports in 2023. African nations are increasingly rejecting France’s influence, with countries like Gabon and Togo joining the British Commonwealth as of 2022 to distance themselves from French control. Compounding this, France’s historical support for corrupt regimes and its failure to address African security concerns have opened doors for rivals like Russia and China.

Essentially an unpopular lame duck, Macron appears to be eagerly pursuing a legacy in the Middle East. One could reasonably ask, why? France’s involvement with Lebanon and Syria, dating back to its colonial days, is no doubt a part. Finances, or at least the possibility of finances, may play a role as well. Consider that Qatar has pledged to channel billions of euros into investment funds and start-ups in France. Observers point to the small but ultra-wealthy emirate’s influence as one potential cause of Macron’s willingness to bait Jerusalem on the world stage. Meanwhile, the French budget continues to be tight. So, in addition to using war in the Middle East as a pretext for international grandstanding, perhaps the upcoming UN conference will give Macron an opportunity to seek favor with co-chairs from Riyadh on the monetary front too. 

The search for glory and other people’s money are clearly the drivers of French foreign policy in the Middle East. In the end, Macron may find neither.