The announcement came as several Western leaders recognized a Palestinian state on Monday at a historic two-state solution conference, which was convened by France and Saudi Arabia ahead of the opening of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Below is the full text of the Macron’s speech:
Madam President of the General Assembly, Mr. Secretary-General, heads of state and government, ladies and gentlemen.
We are here because the time has come. The time has come to free the 48 hostages held by Hamas. The time has come to stop the war, the bombings in Gaza, the massacres, and the fleeing populations. The time has come because the urgency is everywhere.
The time for peace has come because we are only moments away from no longer being able to seize it. That is why we are here today.
Some will say it is too late, others will say it is too soon. One thing is certain, we can no longer wait.
In 1947, this assembly decided to partition Mandatory Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, thus recognizing the right of each to self-determination. The international community thereby consecrated the State of Israel, fulfilling the destiny of this people, finally, after millennia of wandering and persecution, and who were able to establish there such a vibrant democracy.
The promise of an Arab state, however, remains unfulfilled to this day. Since then, Israelis and Palestinians have each traveled a long road, mingled with hope and despair, in their own way. And we have journeyed with them, each of us, according to our own history and sensibility.
But the truth is that we bear the collective responsibility for having so far failed to build a just and lasting peace in the Near East.
It was self-evident to us on October 7, 2023, when the Israeli people suffered the worst terrorist attack in their history. One thousand two hundred twenty-four men, women and children were killed; 4,834 men, women and children were injured.
Two hundred fifty-one men, women and children were taken hostage. The barbarity of Hamas and those who collaborated in this massacre stunned Israel and the world. October 7 remains an open wound for the Israeli soul and for the universal conscience. We condemn it without any reservation, because nothing, ever, anywhere, can justify resorting to terrorism.
On this day, we think of the victims and their families. We offer our compassion to the Israelis and, above all else, demand that all hostages still held by Hamas be released unconditionally.
We, French, have paid national tribute to our 51 compatriots murdered that day and to all the victims of October 7, 2023.
We will not forget them. Never. Just as we will never give up the existential fight against antisemitism. As French people, we know the sting of terrorism. We hold close to our hearts the memory of the solidarity shown after the attacks committed in Paris on January 7, 2015, when dozens of foreign leaders joined us in marching, among them the Israeli prime minister and the president of the Palestinian Authority at the forefront.
We know that there can be no weakness in the face of terrorists. We also know the danger of endless wars. We know that the law must always prevail over force. Finally, our history has taught us that a commitment to universal values and to peace is both the legacy of past centuries and the condition for salvation.
I say this in the name of our friendship with Israel, to whom our commitment has never wavered. I also say this in the name of our friendship with the Palestinian people, for whom we want the original promise of the United Nations, the creation of two states living side by side in peace and security, to become a reality.
Yet, at this hour, Israel is still expanding its military operations in Gaza, with the stated aim of destroying Hamas. But it is the lives of hundreds of thousands of displaced, wounded, starving, and traumatized people that continue to be destroyed, even as Hamas has already been significantly weakened and negotiating a lasting ceasefire remains the surest way to secure the release of the hostages. Nothing. Nothing justifies continuing the war in Gaza any longer.
Nothing. On the contrary, everything demands that a definitive end be brought to it, now, having failed to do it sooner to save lives. The lives of the Israeli hostages still being held in atrocious conditions. The lives of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians overwhelmed by hunger, suffering, fear of death, and mourning for their loved ones.
Save every life. For nearly two years now, it has been the denial of one another's humanity and the sacrifice of human life that has prevailed. Yes, since October 7, it is indeed the life of the other that has been denied. We have said it since the first day of the war in Gaza: One life is worth one life.
I know this, having embraced the families of the hostages I met in Tel Aviv and then in Paris, and at this moment, I am thinking of the mother of Evyatar David, a hostage who was starved and displayed to the crowd by his captors. I am thinking of Nimrod Cohen, a 19-year-old hostage, whose father I have just greeted. I know this, too, because I have visited Palestinian victims of Israeli military operations who had taken refuge in el-Arish [in Egypt].
Women, children whose gaze I will never forget. I know this because I have met young people from Gaza who have been welcomed in France. And I am thinking of Rita Baroud, who should have been with us today and who continues to bear witness to the distress of her loved ones in Gaza.
One life is worth one life. And our duty, all of us, is to protect one another. This is an indivisible duty, just as our shared humanity is indivisible. There is a solution to break the cycle of war and destruction. It is the recognition of the other, of their legitimacy, of their humanity, of that dignity.
Both sides must open their eyes again and see human faces where war has placed the mask of an enemy or the features of a target. It is the recognition that Israelis and Palestinians live in twin solitude. The solitude of Israelis after the historic nightmare of October 7, 2023. The solitude of Palestinians, exhausted by this endless war.
The time has come, because the worst could still happen. That could mean the sacrifice of many more civilians, the expulsion of Gaza's population to Egypt, the annexation of the West Bank, the deaths of hostages held by Hamas, or facts on the ground that could change the situation irreversibly. That is why we must, here and now, open the path to peace.
Since last July, events have accelerated terribly, and at this point, there is a real fear that the Abraham Accords or the Camp David Accords could be called into question by Israel's actions, and that peace could become impossible in the Middle East for a long time to come. There is, therefore, a historic responsibility weighing on us.
We must do everything possible to preserve even the very possibility of a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. The time has come. That is why, true to my country's historic commitment in the Near East to peace between the Israeli people and the Palestinian people, I declare that France recognizes the State of Palestine today.
This recognition is a way of affirming that the Palestinian people are not a people who are surplus to requirements. That on the contrary, they are a people who never say farewell to anything, to borrow the words of Mahmoud Darwish. A people strengthened by its history, its roots, and its dignity. And the recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people does nothing to diminish the rights of the Israeli people, which France has supported from the very first day and to which it remains no less committed, precisely because we are convinced that this recognition is the only solution that will allow for peace for Israel.
France has never failed Israel when its security was at stake, including in the face of Iranian strikes. This recognition of the State of Palestine is a defeat for Hamas, as it is for all those who incite antisemitic hatred, fuel anti-Zionist obsessions, and seek the destruction of the State of Israel.
France's recognition is joined by those that will be announced today, among others, and I thank them, by Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and San Marino, who waited for this moment with us and, responding to last July's call, made the choice of responsibility, determination, and peace.
They follow in the footsteps of Spain, Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia, who made that choice in 2024, and many others before them. This recognition paves the way for negotiations that would benefit both Israelis and Palestinians. This is the path of the peace and security plan for all, which Saudi Arabia and France submitted for a vote before this assembly, and which was adopted by an overwhelming majority. It embodies our shared ambition to break the cycle of violence and change the situation on the ground.
We have been able to take a step toward one another, to move beyond our usual positions and set ourselves concrete goals. Now, it is up to us together to set in motion a peace process that meets everyone's needs.
The first phase of this plan for peace and security for all is one of absolute urgency: coupling the release of the 48 hostages with the end of military operations across the entire territory of Gaza. I commend the efforts of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States to achieve this, and I call on Israel to refrain from any action that might hinder their accomplishment. Hamas has been defeated militarily through the neutralization of its leaders and decision-makers. It must now be defeated politically in order to be truly dismantled. As soon as a cease-fire has been agreed upon, we will need to make a massive collective effort to bring relief to the population of Gaza. I would like to thank Egypt and Jordan for their commitment here, and I remind Israel of its absolute obligation to facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza to help a population that today has been left with nothing.
The second phase concerns stabilization and reconstruction in Gaza. A transitional administration that includes the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian youth, and is accompanied by security forces whose training we will accelerate, will have a monopoly over security in Gaza. It will carry out the dismantling and disarmament of Hamas, with the support of international partners and the resources necessary for this difficult mission.
France is ready to contribute to an international stabilization mission and, along with its European partners, to support the training and equipping of Palestinian security forces. As soon as negotiations allow, the Security Council may decide to deploy a civil and security support mission in coordination with the Palestinian authorities, with the consent of the Israeli authorities.
It will also be up to the State of Palestine to restore hope to its population, which has suffered for years from violence, occupation, as well as division and mismanagement. It will therefore be its responsibility to offer its people a renewed and secure framework for democratic expression.
President Mahmoud Abbas made this commitment to Prince Mohammed bin Salman and to myself. He strongly condemned the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023. He expressed his support for the disarmament of Hamas and pledged to exclude the group from future governance in Gaza, as well as throughout Palestinian territory. He reiterated his commitment to combating hate speech and promised a thorough overhaul of Palestinian governance.
France will closely monitor the full implementation of each commitment made to it. This renewed Palestinian Authority is a necessary condition for the success of the essential negotiations that must resume in order to reach an agreement on each of the issues related to final status.
It is within this framework, as well, that I could decide to establish an embassy to the State of Palestine, once all hostages held in Gaza have been released and a ceasefire has been established. France's expectations of Israel will be no less demanding. Along with its European partners, France will tie the level of its cooperation with Israel to the measures it takes to end the war and negotiate peace. It is indeed through this path that we will secure a sovereign, independent, and demilitarized State of Palestine, bringing together all its territories, recognizing Israel and being recognized by Israel, in a region that will finally know peace.
I also expect our Arab and Muslim partners who have not yet done so to honor their commitments to recognize the State of Israel and to establish normal relations with it once the State of Palestine has been established.
In this way, together we will demonstrate mutual recognition for the benefit of peace and security for all in the Near East. This, ladies and gentlemen, is our peace plan. It sets out a demanding framework to move out of war and into a decisive phase of negotiation.
It allows Israeli-Palestinian peace to become the first pillar of a new architecture for peace and security in the Middle East and the broader region. It also makes more credible the possibility of greater economic integration. Nothing will be possible unless the Israeli authorities fully embrace our renewed ambition to finally achieve the two-state solution.
I know their reluctance and their fear. I listen with great respect to the Israeli people, to their sadness and their exhaustion. And I want to believe that the Israeli authorities will also hear them and will, in turn, know how to commit themselves. I know that the Israeli people and their leaders can find the strength for this. I remember the young man I was, learning of the terrible assassination of Yitzhak Rabin nearly 30 years ago.
Killed for having sought peace. As death was about to claim him, the heroic warrior of the State of Israel uttered these words: "I made war as long as there was no chance for peace." That chance exists, here, today. One hundred forty-two states are offering this peace, hand outstretched, ready to be grasped.
So yes, the time has come to stop the war in Gaza, the massacres, and the deaths. Right away. The urgency demands it. The time has come for Israel to live in peace and security, from Galilee to the Red Sea, by way of the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, and Jerusalem. The time has come for the existence of a State of Israel never to be questioned anywhere, and for it to become self-evident.
The time has come to deliver justice to the Palestinian people and thus to recognize a State of Palestine, a brother and neighbor, in Gaza and the West Bank and through Jerusalem. The time has come to drive the hideous face of terrorism from these lands and to build peace.
Yes, to build peace, that is what brings us together here, and that is the hope that can be constructed. As, for some, a new year begins, it is a choice to be made and it is our duty. Peace is much more demanding, much more difficult than any war. But the time has come.
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