FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
PARIS – The European Union has splintered into three blocs at the United Nations, highlighting on the world stage the contradictions of this geopolitical power, pursued for years by Emmanuel Macron, the most enterprising, bold and sometimes unrealistic of its heads of state. The 27 had reached a difficult agreement at the European Council in Brussels on Thursday, but less than 24 hours later they split at the New York Glass Palace as they voted on the resolution for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
Resolution passed with 120 votes
Although Hamas and its atrocities or the hostages were not mentioned in the resolution, France still voted for them (along with six other European countries, including Spain), unlike Italy and Germany, which abstained (along with 14 others countries), and Hungary, who voted against (together with 3 others).
The resolution, approved by 120 votes, was described as “a disgrace” and “a disgrace” by Israel, which had hosted Macron in Tel Aviv just two days earlier. Without consulting his European allies, Macron traveled to Israel last Tuesday to demonstrate France’s solidarity and proposed an “international coalition against Hamas” to Prime Minister Netanyahu in the morning, before moving to Ramallah in the West Bank in the afternoon and wearily hugging leader Mahmoud Abbas the Palestinian Authority. But the idea of the anti-Hamas coalition was ignored by the later interlocutors, Egyptian President Al Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdallah II.
Don’t disappoint anyone
Macron wanted to make a strong distinction between Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians – destroying the former to defend the latter – but for now his initiative has had little success. “No international reaction,” stressed former foreign minister Dominique de Villepin, who still voices his opposition to the war in Iraq twenty years ago, while in the square in Paris pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted: “Israel murderers, Macron accomplices .” .
Even in London, thousands of people marched in the city center for Palestine, demanding an end to the Israeli attack on Gaza. Macron’s “simultaneous” style – seeking synthesis and displeasing no one – ends up attracting hostility from all sides. Macron and the UN called for an “immediate ceasefire,” but last night, a few hours after the resolution, Netanyahu announced that the war in Gaza would be “our second war of independence.”
Resolution passed with 120 votes
Shortly before, United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres (whose resignation Israel has been demanding for days) expressed his “surprise at a military escalation that undermines humanitarian efforts” and said he was concerned about the communications blackout in Gaza billionaire Elon Musk responded by offering the Starlink internet system to humanitarian organizations. As Turkish President Erdogan calls on Israel to “give up this madness” and Jerusalem withdraws diplomatic staff from Ankara, Macron’s acrobatics appear doomed to failure.