Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of standing with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and repeating “blood libels” against the Jewish state after Macron castigated Israel’s policy in Gaza.

“Macron has once again chosen to stand with a murderous Islamist terrorist organization and echo its despicable propaganda, accusing Israel of blood libels,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “Israel will not stop and will not surrender.”

The statement added that Israel is fighting “for its very existence following the horrific massacre committed by Hamas against innocent people on Oct. 7, including the murder and kidnapping of dozens of French nationals.”

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the ongoing war on Oct. 7, 2023, when they invaded southern Israel, murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and kidnapped 251 hostages while perpetrating widespread sexual violence and other atrocities. Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in Gaza, the neighboring Palestinian enclave ruled by the terrorist group for nearly two decades.

Speaking to French television on Tuesday, Macron said the Israeli government’s blockade of aid into Gaza is “unacceptable” and “shameful.”

“What the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is doing is unacceptable … there is no water, no medicine, the wounded cannot get out, the doctors cannot get in. What he is doing is shameful,” Macron told TF1 television. “We need the United States. President Trump has the levers. I have had tough words with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I got angry, but they [Israel] don’t depend on us, they depend on American weapons.”

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza aid since early March, when it resumed military operations against Hamas following a two-month ceasefire. Experts and Israeli officials have said that Hamas steals much of the aid to fuel its terrorist operations and sells some of the remainder to Gaza’s civilian population at an increased price. Jerusalem has also said that aid distribution cannot be left to international organizations, which it accuses of allowing Hamas to seize supplies intended for the civilian population.

Netanyahu’s office slammed Macron for lambasting Israel rather than siding with the Middle East’s lone democracy.

“Instead of supporting the Western democratic camp fighting the Islamist terrorist organizations and calling for the release of the hostages, Macron is once again demanding that Israel surrender and reward terrorism,” the statement said.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also lambasted Macron for his comments.

“We remember well what happened to the Jews in France when they could not defend themselves,” he said in a post on X/Twitter, apparently referring to the mass killing of Jews during the Nazi occupation of France in World War II. “President Macron will not preach morality to us. It is expected of those who define themselves as friends of Israel to stand by Israel in its war against the murderous terrorist organization Hamas and the Iranian axis of evil that threaten to destroy the State of Israel — instead of trying to deny it the right to self-defense.”

He added, “The IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] operates at an unsurpassed level of morality in difficult and complex circumstances — certainly more than anything France has done in its past wars.”

The spat between Paris and Jerusalem came after Macron said last month that France is making plans to recognize a Palestinian state and could do so as early as June. Israeli and French Jewish leaders sharply criticized Macron’s announcement, decrying such a decision as a “prize for terrorism and a boost for Hamas.”

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US President Donald Trump met with Syria’s president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and urged him to normalize ties with longtime foe Israel after a surprise US announcement that it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government.

Trump then flew to Qatar, where he oversaw the signing of a deal for the Gulf Arab country to buy jets from US manufacturer Boeing.

He did not mention a controversial separate offer by Qatar to donate a Boeing jet to serve as the US president‘s official airplane. That would be one of the most valuable gifts ever given to the United States and it has triggered alarm in Washington over its security and ethics implications.

After Trump‘s declaration that he would lift sanctions on Syria, which is seeking to rebuild after more than a decade of civil war, he met with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who swept to power at the head of a group that Washington has called a terrorist organization and once pledged allegiance to al Qaeda.

According to the White House, Trump urged Sharaa to join the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco, which normalized relations with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020.

“I told him, ‘I hope you’re going to join when it’s straightened out.’ He said, ‘Yes.’ But they have a lot of work to do,” Trump said, according to a White House pool report.

Photos posted on Saudi state television showed the two men shaking hands in the presence of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Trump said the meeting with Sharaa, who he described as a young, attractive guy with a very strong past, was “great.”

“He’s got a real shot at holding it together,” said Trump.

BUSINESS DEALS

Trump‘s four-day visit highlights the United States’ growing ties to the oil-rich region, where his real-estate company is also developing several projects.

That has raised concerns about a conflict of interest between Trump‘s official duties as president and his business interests.

Trump has dismissed ethical concerns about his plan to accept the $400 million luxury plane from Qatar to serve as Air Force One, saying on Monday it would be “stupid” to turn down the generous offer.

Qatar has been working to build up political capital with Trump in his second term after falling the wrong side of the US president when he was first in office.

In 2017, during Trump‘s first term, the tiny but hugely wealthy gas producer was isolated by a diplomatic, trade and air embargo imposed by Gulf states and some other Arab nations which accused Doha of backing terrorism and getting too close to Iran. At the time, Trump‘s administration sided with Doha’s rivals.

In Doha, Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani announced deals that the White House said were worth $1.2 trillion. That included an agreement by Qatar Airways to buy Boeing aircraft and GE Aerospace engines.

Trump said the two leaders discussed Iran and the Ukraine-Russia war. “We always had a very special relationship,” Trump said of the emir.

Trump‘s visit to Saudi Arabia brought a $600 billion commitment from the kingdom to invest in the US and $142 billion in US arms sales to the kingdom.

ISRAELI WORRIES

Trump‘s Middle East trip – which does not include a visit to Jerusalem – has fueled doubts in Israel about where the country stands in Washington’s priorities.

Syria is one of Israel‘s biggest foes, and Israeli officials have continued to describe Sharaa as a jihadist, though he severed ties with al Qaeda in 2016. Sharaa first joined the group in Iraq, where he spent five years in a US prison. The United States removed a $10 million bounty on his head in December.

Israel opposes lifting sanctions on Syria, which would clear the way for greater engagement by humanitarian organizations and boost foreign investment. Israel has escalated military strikes in Syria since Sharaa took power after toppling former President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Trump‘s administration is also holding nuclear talks with its other enemy, Iran.

The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump told reporters the fact he has relationships with countries in the Middle East is “very good for Israel.”

The US also hopes regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia will join the Abraham Accords, but discussions came to a halt after the Gaza war erupted and the kingdom insists there can be no normalization without Palestinian statehood.

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At an Israeli Independence Day reception in Washington, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff declared, “On behalf of President Trump, I pledge that we will work tirelessly this year so that next year’s Independence Day is not just a wish for happiness, but a reality of peace, prosperity and for Israel, unity.” 

Witkoff’s suggestion of the “reality of peace” came on the eve of the President’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE — the first official foreign trip of his second term.

It came during a time of intense conflict in the Middle East. Just last week, Israel’s security cabinet voted to significantly broaden the military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis struck Israel near Ben Gurion Airport, and Israel retaliated, striking key economic and military assets of the terror organization in Yemen. At the same time, the threat of a nuclear Iran becomes more likely with each passing day.

With the horrors of October 7, 2023, continuing to plague Israel and the Arab world, amidst the heartbreak of loved ones lost, and as we await an agreement that will finally bring the remaining hostages home, we must also look towards the future. There are two very different paths before us. One is to continue down the road of perpetual conflict, endless wars, and missed opportunities. The other is to acknowledge that violence and hate cannot and will not lead to a future of peace or prosperity — that force without a political horizon only gets you so far.

Building on the successes and stability of the Abraham Accords, President Trump has a rare opportunity to alter the reality in the Middle East by breathing new life into Israeli-Arab integration efforts. Nearly 600 days since the atrocities of October 7, expanded normalization between Israel and other Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, may be more difficult than it was during talks two or three years ago, but it is still within reach.

The reasons for this are simple. The Middle East and North Africa, with the second youngest population on the planet, is the least economically integrated region in the world, one of the most water-poor, and one of the fastest-warming regions due to climate change. The notion that any one country can successfully confront these challenges alone is a fantasy. 

Overcoming the challenges that have emerged post-October 7 is much less straightforward. 

For Israel, the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict remains acceptance and the right to live peacefully in the only homeland of the Jewish people. For Israelis, it is indefensible that the vast majority of the Arab world cannot utter the word Hamas or publicly condemn the October 7 massacre. Israelis do not understand how Egypt, in the fifth decade of its historic peace treaty with Israel, can release a 106-page document about the day-after in Gaza, a plan then endorsed by the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and not mention Hamas. After 19 months, this selective silence has led many across Israel to feel they have no one to turn to as a partner for peace.

But potential partners do exist and have stepped forward. 

In June 2020, UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba published an op-ed directly addressing the Israeli public. He warned about the dangers of annexation and extended his hand in peace. The article is credited with being one of the drivers of the US-brokered Abraham Accords. 

While it may be more difficult for Arab leaders to address the Israeli public today, President Trump could help create a space in which key voices in the Arab world make clear that Hamas has no future and that all Israeli hostages must be released; that Israel is part of — and a contributor to — the region; that Jews are indigenous to their land; and that Israelis have a right to live in peace and security. Arab leaders could also publicly acknowledge the limitations of Palestinian governance and commit to supporting significant institutional reform and acceptance of their Jewish neighbors.

In the same breath, Arab leaders can also make clear that for this future to be secured, the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people must be addressed. The Israelis could commit to a pathway to self-governance, with necessary security conditions. And while this will not yield statehood tomorrow, the Arab world can help promote new opportunities — political, economic, and civic — for Israelis and Palestinians to work and build trust with one another, while also building recognition of the need to share the sliver of land between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea.

President Trump fostering new diplomatic and social engagement will also allow him to pick up where his first administration left off, bringing new life to the economic possibilities of a more interconnected region — which could create four million new jobs and more than $1 trillion in new economic activity over a decade, according to a 2021 Rand study. Equally important, renewing the process of regional integration will move the area toward becoming a necessary bulwark against — instead of a seething generator of — hate and extremism.

President Trump is making this visit at a time that requires Israelis and Arabs to be more interdependent in ways not previously imaginable. So while the challenges in the Middle East are clear, so too are the unprecedented opportunities. President Trump has a rare opportunity to once again make history in this too-long-troubled region. 

Benjamin Rogers is the Director of Middle East and North Africa Initiatives for American Jewish Committee (AJC).

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