Overview

• President Macron confirmed France will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly this September, making it the first G7 country to do so.
• The announcement exposed splits within the G7, with Italy’s prime minister calling it counterproductive without concrete Palestinian state-building measures.
• Israel denounced the decision as a “gift to terror,” and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio branded the move “reckless.”
• Critics assert the timing also responds to domestic pressures, suggesting recognition could placate France’s Muslim community after allegations of government Islamophobia.
• Paris plans to formalize the recognition at the United Nations General Assembly and continue pressing the Palestinian Authority for institutional reforms.