Foreign Ministry director general Eden Bar-Tal summons France’s deputy ambassador Mikaël Griffon for a reprimand at ministry headquarters in Jerusalem, over French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement last week that Paris would recognize a Palestinian state.
The summons was ordered by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Bar-Tal says that “France chose to harm Israel at its most difficult hour.”
He also accuses France of undermining talks for a hostage release deal with Hamas, as well as future negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
“France’s declarations, which presume to determine what is right for Israel’s security instead of the democratically elected government of Israel, reflect an unfounded arrogance that harms Israel’s sovereignty,” Bar-Tal adds.
He says that Macron ignored his own conditions for such a move and that relying on a letter from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is “hypocrisy.”
France’s ambassador Frédéric Journès is away on vacation.
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