Israel threatens to close the French consulate in Jerusalem after Paris supports Palestine

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced that the Israeli government plans to close the French consulate in Jerusalem in response to France's statements regarding its intention to recognize the State of Palestine.

The newspaper "Israel Hayom" revealed that this step is the first of its kind and came after a series of meetings that discussed the available options to deal with the situation, especially after the supportive statements for recognizing the Palestinian state made by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The newspaper quoted informed sources that Macron made direct contacts with the Palestinian Authority through the French consulate in Jerusalem, where the consul delivered a message to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas regarding the anticipated recognition of the Palestinian state.

For its part, the Israeli Foreign Ministry considered the actions of the French consulate to be "provocative" and described France's policy under Macron as hostile to Israel, emphasizing the need to take unprecedented measures to stop what it described as "political drift" against it.

In contrast, the French Foreign Ministry denied receiving any official notification from the Israeli side regarding the action, warning that any step of this kind could cause severe damage to bilateral relations and would provoke a strong reaction.

The newspaper speculated that the aim of this step is to prevent other European countries from joining the initiative to recognize the Palestinian state without coordinating with Israel. It noted that the recommendation of the Israeli Foreign Minister requires official approval from the government, and the decision is expected to be implemented soon.