In France, it is not only Dominique de Villepin or Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his party La France insoumise, who criticize the alignment of President Emmanuel Macron with Israel.
Current diplomats are also stepping up to challenge the abandonment of “ France’s Arab policy ”.
The information is reported by Le Figaro, which speaks of an “ unprecedented gesture ” in the history of French diplomacy. According to this newspaper, around ten French ambassadors stationed in Middle Eastern countries in the Maghreb sent a collective note to the Quai d’Orsay in which they regretted Emmanuel Macron’s alignment with Israeli theses from the start of the ongoing war in Palestine, on October 7.
President Macron has provided unconditional support for Israel and its “ right to defend itself ” since the launch of Operation “ Al Aqsa Flood ” by Palestinian Hamas.
On October 24, he went to Israel where he caused controversy with his proposal to reactivate the international coalition which destroyed Daesh in Syria and Iraq to fight against Hamas in Palestine.
However, with the persistence of Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip which have caused a staggering number of victims (more than 11,000 dead), the French president has tried to balance his position. On November 10, he called for a ceasefire in an interview with the British BBC, becoming the first leader of a major Western country to do so. Macron urged Israel to stop killing babies and women.
The head of state added confusion to his position by calling, after the criticism that arose in France from pro-Israelis and in Israel in particular from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog to reiterate France’s support.
Macron’s support for Israel: rebellion among French ambassadors
France’s position at the start of the crisis is ” misunderstood ” by the ambassadors who wrote the note, who also judge it to be a ” break ” with the traditional balance of French diplomacy on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, a diplomat reveals to Le Figaro who read the note. This summarizes that the document is not “ a firebrand ”, but it can be qualified as a “ note of dissent ”.
According to the same source, the ambassadors note a “ loss of credibility ” of France and deplore its “ bad image ” in the Middle East, attributing, “ in a fairly diplomatic form ” the responsibility for such a situation to the positions of President Macron.
They point out that in the Arab world, criticism is aimed at the United States and the United Kingdom but also at France, as shown by the demonstrations in front of its embassies.
“ We are sometimes accused of complicity in genocide,” comments a diplomat stationed in Paris, quoted by Le Figaro.
The current crisis is more serious than that which followed the publication of caricatures of the Prophet in France, believe the rebellious ambassadors. This time, the distrust of Paris risks being “ long-lasting ”.
The existence of the note is confirmed by three former ambassadors to the Maghreb and the Middle East, but also, implicitly, by the Élysée and the Quai d’Orsay who responded to a request from Le Figaro that they do not comment on a “ diplomatic correspondence which is, by definition, confidential ”, adding that the decision in diplomatic matters rests with the elected authorities.
According to Le Figaro, the ambassadors’ concern is widely shared at the Quai d’Orsay where there is a feeling of being ” marginalized ” on the issue by the Élysée.
“ They have taken their responsibilities ” and this is only a “ first step ”, indicates a diplomat stationed at the Quai d’Orsay, presented as being close to the protesters.
