2023-10-22 23:01:40
Am I going, am I not going? Emmanuel Macron ended up deciding and the decision was made at the very last moment, this Sunday evening. After several days of procrastination at the top of the State, the Élysée ended up announcing this Sunday evening that the President of the Republic would go to Israel on Tuesday. A confirmation, since the politeness was grilled a few moments earlier by the official X account, formerly Twitter, of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is also expected in Tel Aviv at the start of the week.
The fact remains that this trip takes place in a sensitive diplomatic and military context. Diplomatic first, because seven French people are still missing since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Are they hostages or dead? At this stage, only the young Mia Shem has “confirmed hostage status” indicated Emmanuel Macron himself at the end of last week. All weekend, the host of the Élysée made numerous calls with the leaders of the region to try to resolve the situation and obtain their release, in particular with Qatar, which played an important role in the release of two Americans last Friday.
Most likely in Lebanon and Egypt too
He also spoke with US President Joe Biden. Military too, at a time when a possible ground intervention by the IDF, the Israeli army, has never been so topical, with a risk of conflagration feared throughout the region. Particularly with Iran. In this very uncertain context, France sent “very directly” messages of moderation and de-escalation to Lebanese Hezbollah to dissuade it from entering the conflict. No guarantee at this stage.
This Sunday evening, the Élysée, however, remained very discreet about Emmanuel Macron’s precise intentions. A high-ranking diplomatic source, however, lets us understand that the president would not be content with this trip to visit Israel, but also very probably to Lebanon and Egypt. It remains to be seen whether France can really make its voice heard and influence the resolution of this conflict, while the United States – Israel’s historic allies – immediately took leadership in the discussions, as did countries in the Arab world. , particularly Egypt and Qatar.
Difficult for Emmanuel Macron to play the role of mediator, and even more so to obtain decisive progress alone. In Le Monde, former President François Hollande also underlines that by obtaining from Israel the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, “Joe Biden ate the biggest piece”.
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