“You are not alone,” insisted French President Emmanuel Macron this afternoon, during his reception in Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He spoke of the creation of a “regional and international Coalition”, as was done in the past against Iraq and Syria “to fight the terrorist groups that threaten us all. The fight must be merciless but not without rules,” Macron underlined.

The French are watching with satisfaction the two-day visit of the French president to Israel. It was time, as they did not understand the silence and absence of France, which already had 30 dead from the attack of Hamas in Israel on October 7 and counts nine hostages in Gaza. The French president himself, responding to the concern of the French from the Elysée, declared that he will visit Israel “when he judges that his visit will be able to yield something”. From today the French president can live up to his promises and prove that he can indeed bring “something” from his trip to the Middle East.

He arrived in Tel Aviv today shortly before 8:00 am and his first meeting was with 19 families of Hamas victims. All of them are waiting for a hopeful action for the hostages, with the miracle perhaps leading to the release of some of them. At the same time, the French public wants to hope and talks about a “humanitarian truce”, so that openings can be made for trucks with humanitarian aid. In the morning meeting, however, with the Israeli prime minister next to him, Emmanuel Macron did not mention the issue.

The goal of erestarting the peace process

For its part, the French presidency underlines that with his visit, Macron wants to show his support for Israel, but with a deeper goal of restarting the peace process. It is expected that he will repeat France’s long-standing positions on the creation of a Palestinian state, as François Mitterrand had also developed in the Israeli Knesset in 1982. And this parallel to the end of colonization in the West Bank. Positions for years forgotten and sidelined even in recent Abrahamic Covenants. In the presence and with the permission of the Israeli prime minister, Emmanuel Macron held a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority.