Netanyahu said to rebuff Macron request to visit Israel ahead of recognition of Palestinian state

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a request by French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Israel ahead of Paris’s expected recognition of a Palestinian state later this month, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

According to the report, Macron sought to make a brief visit before the United Nations General Assembly, where France is expected to join other Western nations in unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu, however, conditioned the visit on Macron withdrawing the move — a demand the French leader refused.  

 

Former French-Israeli lawmaker Meyer Habib told Kan earlier today that Macron had recently sought to travel to Israel but was rebuffed by Netanyahu.

“Macron sent a message to Netanyahu saying he wanted to come, but Netanyahu replied that under the current circumstances it was not the right time,” Habib said. 

 

 In its evening report, an Israeli official tells the Hebrew network: “We will not allow Macron to have it both ways.”  

 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-said-to-rebuff-macron-request-to-visit-israel-ahead-of-recognition-of-palestinian-state/