Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday for embracing Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas as a “prince of peace” following their meeting in Paris.
“To bring in such a person, embrace him and say you’re the prince of peace is the opposite of reality—it’s false,” Netanyahu told Australian reporter Erin Molan, of “The Erin Molan Show” podcast, on Thursday.
“You cannot build peace on falsehoods. Sooner or later, these falsehoods crash on the rocks of Middle East reality,” the Israeli premier continued.
“The reality is that the Palestinian leader Abbas, who was feted right now in Paris, pays terrorists to kill Jews,” he said. “The more Jews they kill, the more they get paid. They take care of their families.”
A reformed mechanism brands the terror stipends as “welfare support,” and the payment allocation system was transferred from an official P.A. ministry to an “independent” foundation under Ramallah’s control, but Abbas has said he would not deduct a “single penny” from the fund.
Netanyahu added that during the 21 years Abbas has remained in what began as a four-year term, Ramallah has continued naming squares after terrorist mass-murderers and using school textbooks that call for the destruction of the only Jewish state.
The prime minister said his advice to Macron is “learn the facts, stick to the facts, stick to realities and don’t try to escape it.”
“When you look at the facts, the force for peace, the force for stability, the force for progress, is not the Palestinian Authority, but Israel,” Netanyahu said.
Abbas visited France as “president of the State of Palestine” for the first time on Tuesday since Macron recognized Palestinian statehood some two months ago.
Speaking with the press following their meetings at the Élysée Palace, Macron emphasized that Ramallah can “count on France to continue advancing along the path we have outlined together,” which he said would “open the door to peace and establishing a Palestinian state.”
Macron repeatedly hailed Abbas as a “partner for peace” with Israel, claiming he has “consistently” condemned violence and terrorism, including the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023.
The French head of state also praised the P.A. leader, who turns 90 on Nov. 15, for what he described as his “unambiguous condemnation of all forms of antisemitism.”
However, the P.A. chief has yet to unequivocally denounce the deadliest single-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust publicly in Arabic. Abbas, whose 1982 doctoral dissertation contained Holocaust denial, has also often promoted antisemitic tropes, conspiracy theories and libels.
