Inflammable debate on the Middle East in the Assembly on the eve of Macron's visit to Israel

A flammable debate to take place the day before a visit by Emmanuel Macron to Tel Aviv: the government will come to reaffirm its position on the Middle East before the deputies on Monday, with the hope that “the spirit of unity” will prevail there, put at ; harmed by a considered tweet by some as anti-Semitic by Jean-Luc Mélenchon on a trip by the President of the Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet to Israel.

This debate without a vote, organized under article 50-1 of the Constitution, must start at 4:00 p.m. with a statement from Elisabeth Borne, followed by speeches by the speakers of the groups and the presidents of the Foreign Affairs and Foreign Affairs committees. European affairs.

It takes place the day after a controversial trip to Israel by Yaël Braun-Pivet, as president of the National Assembly, during which she affirmed that France “fully” supported Israel and that “nothing should prevent” the country “from defending itself” in the war between it and Hamas.

But the political debate heated up after the reaction of Jean-Luc Mélenchon who accused Ms. Braun-Pivet of “camping in Tel Aviv to encourage the massacre” in Gaza. “Not in the name of the French people!” protested the leader of La France Insoumise on the social network numerous anti-Semitic threats, Ms. Braun-Pivet accused Mr. Mélenchon of having put “a new target on her back”, saying she was “very shocked”.

Mr. Mélenchon's message was denounced by Licra, Crif and many elected officials, from the majority, from LR, from RN and even from the PS, where MP Valérie Rabault described it as “accusations (. ..) abject”.

Mr. Mélenchon defended himself by denouncing “absurd word policing” regarding “attributing an anti-Semitic connotation to the word camp.”

Before the Assembly, the government should reiterate its position summarized on Sunday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna: “condemn Hamas and its terrorist action, avoid conflagration in the region and to do this recall that we need a political horizon around of the two-state solution, recall that international humanitarian law must be respected, and of course obtain emergency humanitarian access for the civilian populations in Gaza.”

“Faced with the seriousness of the situation “, Ms. Colonna wants “to believe that the spirit of unity and the sense of responsibility will prevail during this debate.”

– “Ceasefire for civilians” –

Despite the controversy, La France insoumise (LFI) intends to “hold Yaël Braun-Pivet accountable” for his trip to Israel. She herself has been attacked, since the massacres of October 7, for her refusal to qualify Hamas as “terrorist”.

The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron on October 20, 2023 at the Elysée, in Paris © POOL – BENOIT TESSIER

The bosses of the PCF and the PS, Fabien Roussel and Olivier Faure, also criticized this trip. Beyond Ms. Braun-Pivet, Mr. Faure attacked Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of not having maintained a “line of neutrality” in the face of the siege of Gaza.

The president is expected in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, where he is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On France 2, government spokesperson Olivier Véran did not rule out Emmanuel Macron meeting other leaders in the region but referred to the Elysée “who will be required to communicate”.

The president “will be able to conduct fundamental talks, both for the region, for our French nationals, for the families of the victims and also for the Palestinian people”, assured Mr. Véran, recalling that “30 French families have lost a relative” in the Hamas attacks and that seven French people are still missing, at least one of whom is a hostage.

The PCF, environmentalists, the PS and LFI should speak out in favor of a ” ceasefire” and the lifting of the blockade of Gaza. Fabien Roussel will say “that the French position is not up to the task of expressing solidarity with the Palestinian civilian populations” and that “indignation cannot be selective.”

Within the majority, the objective is to unite around the “president's line”, according to Renaissance boss Sylvain Maillard.

A line which leaves room for nuanced positions on the question of support for the government Israeli. Thus the president of the Foreign Affairs Commission Jean-Louis Bourlanges intends to evoke the responsibility of the Israeli government in the crisis: “They have built a system where they have crushed any possibility of a future for the Palestinians”, he said to AFP.

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