French Ambassadors Criticize Macron's Stance on the Gaza War

On Monday afternoon, the newspaper Le Monde revealed that a dozen French ambassadors accredited to the Middle East and the Maghreb countries signed a letter regretting the position that France has adopted regarding Israeli military actions in Gaza.

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A diplomat who preferred to remain anonymous told the French newspaper that the letter is addressed to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and regrets the pro-Israeli turn adopted by President Emmanuel Macron in the war between the Jewish State and Hamas.

"The ambassadors affirm that our position in favor of Israel at the beginning of the crisis is misunderstood in the Middle East and that it is at odds with our traditionally balanced position between Israelis and Palestinians," he said about a letter that remains confidential.

To qualify their statements, however, the diplomats congratulated Macron's statements in an interview with the BBC in which he marked some distance in his previous stance through criticism of the Israeli attacks against civilians in Gaza.​

According to Le Figaro, the French Foreign Affairs Ministry downplayed the importance of the ambassadors' letter, pointing out that political authorities elected by citizens are the ones who decide the French foreign policy.

Since October 7, when Israel began indiscriminate bombing of Gazans, the Macron administration has maintained contradictory positions. Initially, France supported "Israel's right to defend itself" against the actions of the Palestinian armed resistance. French authorities subsequently proposed a humanitarian truce in favor of civilians in Gaza.

Weeks after the start of the offensive, once the Israeli occupation forces had killed over 10,000 Palestinians, President Macron dared to utter the word "ceasefire," the AA agency recalled, emphasizing that thousands of women and children had already died.