JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officials expressed outrage after French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognize the State of Palestine during a UN General Assembly meeting in September.

In a statement issued by his office, Netanyahu condemned Macron’s pledge as “rewarding terror,” referencing the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel.

“I strongly condemn President Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the October 7 massacre,” the statement said, adding that such a move “rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.”

“A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel -- not to live in peace beside it,” he claimed.

“Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel,” he added.

Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin called Macron’s move a “disgrace in French history” and demanded that Israel annex West Bank settlements in retaliation.

“Now is the time to apply sovereignty to Judea and Samaria,” he said, according to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily.

Defense Minister Israel Katz also criticized Macron, saying “instead of standing by Israel at this critical moment, the French president chooses to weaken us...We will never allow the creation of a Palestinian entity that threatens our existence.”

The Yesha Council – an umbrella organization that represents the municipal councils of Israeli settlements in the West Bank -- also urged the Israeli government to respond by extending Israeli sovereignty over the territory, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

“In line with our historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine,” said Macron.

Currently, 149 out of 193 UN member states officially recognize the State of Palestine.