Israel Calls Macron's UN Remarks on West Bank a 'Grotesque Absurdity'

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a sharp rebuke on Wednesday to remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron at the United Nations denouncing settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, calling the comments a "grotesque absurdity," according to France 24.

The statement specifically took issue with Macron's assertion that "Hamas has never struck in the West Bank," which Netanyahu's office rejected as inaccurate. The exchange reflects continuing friction between Israel and France over the war in Gaza and the broader question of Palestinian statehood, with Macron among the Western leaders who have grown more openly critical of Israeli policy in the West Bank amid rising settler violence documented by rights groups and, at times, Israeli security officials.

Macron delivered his remarks as part of the UN General Assembly's high-level debate, an annual gathering in which world leaders address pressing global issues, this year including the war in Gaza, violence in the West Bank, and prospects for a two-state solution. France has in recent months taken steps to move closer to recognizing Palestinian statehood, a shift that has strained relations between Paris and the Netanyahu government.

Israeli officials have consistently pushed back against what they describe as one-sided international criticism of Israel's conduct in the West Bank and Gaza, arguing that such criticism fails to account for security threats posed by Hamas and other armed groups.

Neither the French presidency nor Macron had issued a further public response to Netanyahu's office's rebuke at the time of the report.