Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron following the latter's announcement that he intends to recognize a Palestinian state and a meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to discuss said recognition.
Among other things, the meeting comes amid the tensions following remarks made by the Prime Minister's son, Yair, in response to the French President's post calling for the creation of a Palestinian state.
The Prime Minister's Office wrote in a statement that "during the conversation, the Prime Minister expressed fierce opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and said that this would constitute a huge prize for terrorism."
The statement added: "The Prime Minister pointed out to the President of France that to this day, no Palestinian body – including those of the Palestinian Authority – has condemned the October 7th massacre; and that in the Palestinian Authority, the children are educated to destroy Israel, and the murderers of Jews are awarded monetary prizes.
"The Prime Minister told the President of France that a Palestinian state that would be established just a few minutes from Israeli cities would become an Iranian stronghold of terrorism; that the vast majority of the Israeli public opposes that categorically – and that this has also been the Prime Minister's consistent and longstanding policy."
In a post on X last week, Macron wrote: “I’m reading all sorts of things here about our intentions for Gaza. Here is France’s position—it is clear: Yes to peace. Yes to Israel’s security. Yes to a Palestinian state without Hamas.”
The Prime Minister's son commented: "Screw you! "Yes to independence of New Caledonia! Yes to independence to French Polynesia! Yes to independence of Corsica! Yes to independence of the Basque Country! Yes to independence of French Guinea! Stop the neo imperialism of France in West Africa!"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support for his son, stating: "I love my son Yair, a true Zionist who cares about the country's future.
"Like every citizen, he is entitled to his personal opinion, even if the tone of his comment on President Macron's post calling for the creation of a Palestinian state is not acceptable in my eyes. President Macron is severely mistaken, as he continues to push the idea of a Palestinian State in the heart of our land, that only aims to destroy the State of Israel."
The Prime Minister added: "Until this moment, no one in Hamas or the Palestinian Authority has condemned the atrocities of the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust, which attests to their true view of the Jewish state. We will not endanger our existence because of illusions that are disconnected from reality, and we will not take moral preaching to create a Palestinian state that endangers Israel's existence from the one who refuses to grant independence to Corsica, New Calidona, French Guiana, and other territories whose independence does not threaten France in any way."