France “cannot act as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians,” Israel’s embassy in Paris told Reuters on Friday, responding to the latest French push for a two-state solution.
“Regarding the two-state solution, the ambassador recalls that the Palestinians have rejected proposals to establish a Palestinian state on five occasions,” the diplomatic mission said in a statement to the news wire.
The embassy was responding to a conference hosted by French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot on Friday, which brought together some 250 two-state activists to mark one year since Paris’s call to establish “Palestine.”
Israeli Ambassador to France Joshua Zarka “was invited but will not attend the conference, as it has nothing to do with promoting peace,” the embassy said.
Friday’s meeting brought together foreign ministers and senior officials from dozens of countries, alongside civil society groups. It came one year after the “Paris Call for the Two-State Solution,” which set out a roadmap toward Palestinian statehood and prompted about a dozen countries, including France, Britain and Canada, to recognize a Palestinian state.
The gathering ended with a call for action urging a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip alongside reconstruction, a halt to Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority governance reforms and stronger international backing for Palestinian civil society. The proposal will be shared with G7 leaders who are set to meet at Évian-les-Bains in the French Alps starting on Monday.
“We could find every reason in the world to give up—but you are here. Your testimonies alone are grounds for hope and action,” Barrot told attendees. “France refuses to let the side of war prevail over the side of peace.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron last year that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be “a major reward for terrorism” and a strategic threat to the Jewish state.
Netanyahu told Macron on April 15, 2025, that a Palestinian state established minutes from Israeli population centers would become “an Iranian terror stronghold,” and “an overwhelming majority of the Israeli public is firmly opposed to such a move,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
He also noted that “no Palestinian entity—including the Palestinian Authority—has condemned the Oct. 7, [2023,] massacre,” adding that the P.A. “educates its children to seek Israel’s destruction and financially rewards murderers of Jews.”
Netanyahu in November condemned Macron 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.
“You cannot build peace on falsehoods. Sooner or later, these falsehoods crash on the rocks of Middle East reality,” the 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.”
