Macron Praises Abbas Letter, Israel Responds With Fury

French President Emmanuel Macron ignited a diplomatic firestorm on Thursday after publishing a message of praise for Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Sharing an image of the letter on his official X account, Macron described it as a message of “hope, courage, and clarity” that charts a path toward peace.

The letter from Abbas, released ahead of an international conference on the Palestinian issue hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, outlines what Macron called “concrete and unprecedented commitments” — including a condemnation of terrorism, a call for the release of hostages, the demilitarization of Hamas, and support for Palestinian elections and reform. Macron wrote that these steps “reflect the commitment of the Palestinian people to the two-state solution” and represent “a decisive moment” for peace.

But in Israel, the reaction was swift, scathing, and deeply personal.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned Macron’s enthusiasm for the letter, describing it as naïve and disconnected from reality. “What exactly caused the French president to be so moved by a letter full of hollow slogans, broken promises, and outright lies?” Sa’ar wrote in an official statement. “614 days have passed since the October 7 massacre, and only now does Abbas acknowledge it — weakly, and not even in his own voice, but in a letter to the French president, as if France had been the target of the attack.”

Sa’ar did not stop there. He accused Abbas of ongoing incitement and direct support for terrorism through the Palestinian Authority’s payment system to the families of convicted terrorists. “This is the same man who continues to fund terror through salaries and rewards. The same man whose forces have made no effort to confront Hamas or other terror groups in Judea and Samaria.”

Israel’s top diplomat questioned the credibility of Abbas’s declarations, pointing to the PA’s loss of control in Gaza in 2007 and its diminishing authority even within the West Bank. “He talks about dismantling Hamas and taking control of Gaza. It’s laughable. He could not even hold onto power in Ramallah without international support.”

Sa’ar also pushed back on Abbas’s reference to political reform, calling it “a shared delusion between him and Macron.” He cited continued incitement in Palestinian schoolbooks, sermons, and official media as proof that no meaningful reform has taken place. “The same rhetoric, the same hatred, the same glorification of martyrdom. Nothing has changed.”

He concluded with a blunt rebuke of Macron himself. “If the president of France is so eager to see a Palestinian state, perhaps he should consider establishing one within the spacious territory of France itself. But Israel will not build its future on illusions that have already exploded in our faces too many times.”

The Abbas letter comes amid growing European efforts to reignite diplomatic momentum around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, even as the region remains engulfed in the fallout of the October 7 massacre and the ongoing war in Gaza. For Israel, however, the letter is being seen not as a diplomatic breakthrough, but as another reminder of a leadership that has failed to renounce violence, failed to reform, and failed to lead.

As one senior Israeli official told JFeed on background, “This is not a new Abbas. It is the same Abbas with a new font.”