Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his strong opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state to French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, following Macron's expression of support for the solution on X/Twitter on Wednesday.
During the call, Netanyahu explained that such an action would be "a tremendous reward for terrorism."
Macron said last week that France could recognize a Palestinian state in June, adding that, in turn, some countries in the Middle East could recognize the State of Israel.
The PMO also added that during the call, Netanyahu reminded Macron that no Palestinian entity, including the Palestinian Authority, had condemned the October 7 Hamas attacks.
"The Palestinian Authority educated its children to destroy Israel and distributes financial rewards to those who kill Jews," Netanyahu continued.
Netanyhu's further statements to Macron
Netanyahu also told Macron that a Palestinian state located just minutes from Israeli cities would become a stronghold of Iranian terrorism, that a vast majority of the Israeli public strongly opposes this, and that this has been his consistent and long-standing policy, the PMO added.
The call between the two leaders also comes after Macron posted on Saturday that France's position on Gaza involves a "Palestinian state without Hamas," to which Netanyahu's son, Yair Netanyahu replied "screw you."
Reuters contributed to this report.