Macron rejects Netanyahu's antisemitism accusation, reaffirms support for Palestine

PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent claims of rising antisemitism in France, stressing in an open letter that the fight against antisemitism must not be "weaponized".

Macron made the remarks in response to a letter from Netanyahu dated Aug 17, in which the Israeli leader accused him of pouring "fuel on this antisemitic fire" by planning to recognize the State of Palestine in September.

"Our determination to ensure that the Palestinian people have a State is rooted in our belief that a lasting peace is essential to the State of Israel's security, to its full regional integration in a Middle East at last at peace, and to a shift towards normalization that we support and that must be allowed to come to fruition as swiftly as possible," Macron wrote in the letter.

A lasting peace would require the creation of a demilitarized sovereign Palestinian state that recognizes Israel and its right to security, he added.

Speaking of Israel's recent ground offensive on Gaza, Macron warned Netanyahu that such a measure would impact the lives of the Israeli people for decades to come and impose an unbearable cost on their Palestinian neighbors.

"The occupation of Gaza, the forced displacement of Palestinians, the deliberate imposition of famine, the hateful dehumanizing speeches, and the annexation of the West Bank will never yield a lasting victory for Israel," he wrote.