Robert Wilkie, former secretary of Veterans Affairs, told Newsmax on Friday that France's decision to officially recognize Palestine as a state is an attempt to create "a distraction" from the country's problems.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that France will recognize Palestine as a state, joining more than 140 countries that recognize Palestine and making it the largest Western nation to do so. The decision was denounced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
When asked about the decision on "Wake Up America," Wilkie said, "I think Macron is trying to create a sense that France can play above its weight" on the global stage.
He added that Macron "tried to drag Sir Keir Starmer into this," but "the Prime Minister of the UK said no" and "the Chancellor of Germany said no."
Wilkie said, "But the sad thing here ... is that what Macron is doing, he is papering over the wave of antisemitism that continues to grow in France. The wave of anti-Israeli, anti-American agitation that is being played out on the streets of France."
He went on to criticize Macron's government for having "allowed tens of thousands of Muslims to come into their country. They've cordoned them off into essentially ghettos and allowed this problem to metastasize. And I think in many ways it threatens the very future of France because the violence, the ... terrorist activities that are going on in the in the streets and suburbs of Paris, Macron isn't dealing with that. And this is just a distraction."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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