2023-10-26 11:30:03
One of the issues, and not the least, of Emmanuel Macron’s trip to the Middle East is linked to the French internal situation. Against a backdrop of terrorist threat, the conflict between Israel and Hamas is likely to tear the fragile national fabric due to the weight represented in France by the Jewish and Arab-Muslim communities, the largest in Europe. At this stage, tensions remain contained, but the increase in the number of anti-Semitic acts – 501 acts recorded by the Ministry of the Interior between October 7 and 22 – constitutes an alert. The other warning signal comes from the violence of the political debate, which predicts the worst if, despite all the warnings, Israel decides to launch a major ground offensive in Gaza.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Israel-Hamas war: the concern of the Jewish community in France in the face of the resurgence of anti-Semitic acts
With each conflagration in the region, the subject has deeply divided in France, often creating fissures within the same party. This time, it is polarization at the extremes which dominates, all the more dangerous as it is not devoid of political calculations. By refusing to qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization, Jean-Luc Mélenchon made the cynical bet of being best placed to harness the anger in the suburbs, if one day it explodes. If Marine Le Pen now presents herself as Israel’s best ally, it is to better whitewash her party of its anti-Semitic past. The RN, which until now defended the creation of a Palestinian state at peace with Israel, now sees it, in the words of its president, Jordan Bardella, “an incubator for Islamist terrorism”.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In the West Bank, Emmanuel Macron tries to comfort the Palestinian Authority
The National Assembly is a reflection of this polarization. While barely a hundred deputies participated in the debate on the situation in the Middle East, Monday October 23, the Hemicycle was immediately electrified by the attack made by Jean-Luc Mélenchon against Yaël Braun-Pivet. The President of the National Assembly had shown unqualified support for Israel. She was accused in return of “camping in Tel Aviv to encourage the massacre” in Gaza. The president (MoDem) of the foreign affairs committee, Jean-Louis Bourlanges, who tried to defend a balanced position, was criticized for holding “a Munich speech” by Les Républicains deputy Meyer Habib, close to Benyamin Netanyahu.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Israel-Hamas war: Emmanuel Macron’s big diplomatic gap
Discomfort dissipated
In this incendiary context, it was urgent for the President of the Republic to dispel misunderstandings likely to serve as fuel for one camp or the other. From his two-day trip to Israel, Jordan and Egypt, we will remember that the support and solidarity towards Israel, fully reaffirmed, are not necessarily unconditional. From Cairo, Emmanuel Macron described” error ” a possible land offensive « massive » in the Gaza Strip. We will also note France’s concern not to confuse Hamas and Palestine, to recall the legitimate right of Palestinians to have a territory and a State and to participate in humanitarian operations in Gaza.
Because the French government’s first instinct was to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations, the feeling prevailed that the French position had become unambiguous. The uneasiness has now fortunately dissipated. However, the President of the Republic has not scored any points with his opponents. Everyone derided his proposal to “regional and international coalition” pour « lutter » against Hamas. Poorly put together, his announcement seemed like one surprise too many.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “We no longer talked about the “centrality” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It has just re-emerged, in an atrocious way”
#dangers #French #political #polarization