French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on November 11. Abbas has visited before, but this was Abbas’s first visit since France recognized Palestine as a sovereign state this year. Macron greeted Abbas this time as “president of the state of Palestine.”

President Macron said in a press conference that the Palestinian Authority could “count on France to continue advancing along the path we have outlined together,” claiming this would “open the door to peace and establishing a Palestinian state.”

He also announced “a joint committee for the consolidation of the state of Palestine. This committee will work on all legal, constitutional, institutional and organizational aspects.” This process would “contribute to drawing up a new constitution, a draft of which President Abbas presented to me.”

Macron stressed Abbas’s claims as a peacemaker and thanked Abbas for “unambiguous condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism” and “consistently” condemning terrorism. “I know I can count on President Abbas,” he said.

Context

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is the quasi-governmental institution that controls part of the West Bank. It was formed as a result of the 1990s Oslo Accords between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups. The rest of the West Bank is under varying levels of Israeli control. The PA is supposed to be the foundation for a government of an independent, Israel-recognized Palestinian state. The PA also governed Gaza, but in 2007, Hamas kicked it out of the territory.

When France, the United Kingdom, Canada and other Western countries announced they were recognizing a Palestinian state, they were referring to Abbas’s government, which is separate from Hamas. Abbas’s political faction, Fatah, has been Hamas’s bitter rival for years. Unlike Islamist jihadist Hamas, Fatah is socialist and secular.

Critics of the West’s new love for a Palestinian state claim that since Israel has yet to conclude the war against Hamas, started on Oct. 7, 2023, diplomatic recognition for a Palestinian state is a reward for terrorism.

Setting aside the fact that the PA does not qualify as a state based on the generally accepted criteria (see our article from August on this issue), would it not be “the right thing to do” to recognize the PA as a Palestinian state? If a place called Palestine exists where people who call themselves Palestinians live and don’t want to be part of Israel, shouldn’t they be recognized by the wider international community?

Collaboration

Abbas may not belong to Hamas and he may not be from Gaza, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t help engineer the October 7 massacre.

The PA operated a welfare system dubbed by Israel as “pay to slay.” Families of Palestinians who targeted Israelis were paid. This would be offered regardless of the prisoner’s charges. This included convicted terrorists, like members of Hamas captured in Gaza after the October 7 war started. This was standard practice for years.

The PA was literally paying Hamas’s salaries.

Abbas claimed to have ended this system earlier this year and to have replaced it with a different welfare system. Clearly, the PA was in no hurry to enact this reform. Pressure from the United States and elsewhere led to the recent decision. In his meeting with Macron, Abbas reportedly “assured that no further payments would be made under that [old] system.” If the system hasn’t been active for months now, why would Abbas have to clarify?

The PA is also responsible for Gaza’s notorious educational system that encourages children to become terrorists and kill Jews. For years, Palestinian textbooks have taught elementary school-age children in classes like language and religious studies that there is no worthier goal than martyrdom against Israelis. The United Nations administered the Gaza schools teaching this content, but the PA often authored the content. (See our relevant article for more information.)

Abbas and Fatah may not have been the main instigators of what happened in 2023, but they are just as responsible for conditioning Gaza to launch the massacre as Hamas is.

Then, there is the case of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a designated terrorist group that formed as Fatah’s military wing. Famed Hamas dissident Mossab Hassan Yousef claims it began as bodyguards for Abbas’s predecessor, Yasser Arafat. The militia’s current relationship with Fatah is murky, but the Brigade recorded video evidence that it participated in Hamas’s invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. As reported by Palestinian Media Watch, the Brigade massacred civilians alongside Hamas. These videos were uploaded onto Telegram by Fatah.

Corruption

The 90-year-old Abbas is currently in his 21st year as PA president—in his inaugural four-year term. He won election in 2005 and has refused to step down. In 2009, the Palestinian Liberation Organization—an entirely separate organization from the PA—extended his term indefinitely. The PA hasn’t had another election since.

Abbas perennially suggests he may stage new elections. He indicated to Macron as such. But he frequently backtracks, blaming actions by Israel, Hamas or other external actors.

Under Abbas, the PA has been unable—or unwilling—to enforce rule over its territories. Cities like Nablus and Jenin have become anarchic communes run by Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Abbas is no partner for peace. He rules over a terrorist organization and sponsors other terrorist organizations like Hamas. Nor is he a face for freedom and democracy for the Palestinian people. He is the kind of dictator Western countries fought wars to depose. But in his case, the West seems eager to preserve and extend his power.

Consequences

None of this is news. Yet Emmanuel Macron still intends to sponsor the PA’s reconstruction. Macron’s announcement recognizing Palestinian statehood encouraged the UK, Canada and others in the West to follow suit.

In his press conference, Macron referenced France’s assistance to the “consolidation of the state of Palestine.” This is almost certainly a reference to grafting Gaza into the PA’s jurisdiction. The Gaza war is nearing its end. Most of the West wants to see Israel cede control of post-Hamas Gaza to the PA. Israel, knowing the PA’s corruption and terrorist sympathies, has rejected this. Yet it sounds like Macron is prepared to pressure Israel to compromise.

France is one of the world’s most advanced economies. It is a nuclear weapons state with a UN Security Council veto. As one of the most influential countries in the European Union. France has a lot of geopolitical pressure it could exert. It appears President Macron is using this pressure to become the Palestinian Authority’s biggest and most consequential Western sponsor.

Why is Macron going out of his way to support the Palestinian cause? Domestic politics may have an influence: France has a large Muslim minority and will have a presidential election in the spring of 2027. Macron cannot run for a third term, but he may be pandering to the Muslim electorate for his party.

France, once a global empire, has been pushing for decades to preserve its influence in its former empire. France hasn’t been in Palestine since the days of Napoleon, but Macron may see the sponsor-desperate PA as an easy place to extend France’s influence.

The Bible prophesies that Europe will become more deeply involved in Palestinian affairs. Psalm 83 records a prophecy of the “Philistines,” representing the modern Palestinian people today, joining an alliance with “Assur,” or Germany (verses 6-8). This alliance will form “that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (verse 4). Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry elaborates on this in Chapter 4 of his booklet The King of the South.

A prophecy in Hosea 5:13 states that Judah, or the Jewish nation today, will again turn to Assyria, or Germany, to fix a “wound.” Analyzing the original Hebrew meaning and comparing it with modern events, Mr. Flurry says this “wound” refers to the Palestinian peace process. (Chapter 2 of his booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy describes this prophecy in detail.)

Other prophecies show Germany will also rule the rest of the EU. France isn’t directly addressed in these prophecies, but as an EU member, it is empowering Germany to rule all of Europe. Right now, France is taking the lead in sponsoring the Palestinians, similar to the relationship prophecy says the Palestinians will have with Europe.

It appears President Macron is prepared to back up his talk with action. He has demonstrated this by recognizing Palestine as a state. If this trend continues, expect his Palestinian empowerment to contribute to Europe grafting the Palestinians into its sphere of influence. This will lead to a greater crisis for the State of Israel than it has ever faced