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Netanyahu congratulated French President-elect Macron, the country’s youngest president in history, saying he looked forward to working together.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated French President-elect Emmanuel Macron upon his election victory Sunday. Macron became the country’s youngest president in history, beating Marine Le Pen, his far-right opponent in the presidential runoff.
“I congratulate Emmanuel Macron on being elected President of France. I look forward to working with President-elect Macron to confront the common challenges and seize the common opportunities facing our two democracies,” Netanyahu stated.
Netanyahu said that “one of the greatest threats facing the world today is radical Islamic terror, which has struck Paris, Jerusalem and so many other cities around the world. France and Israel are longtime allies and I am sure that we will continue to deepen our relations.”
Macron beat Le Pen 64 percent against Le Pen’s 36 percent.
Israelis with French citizenship overwhelmingly voted for Macron, who received 96.3 percent of the votes in Israel.
Speaking to IDF Radio on Monday, French ambassador to Israel Hélène Le Gal said that Macron will “be good for Israel,” adding that the president-elect had visited Israel some two years ago as France’s minister of economy and was deeply impressed by Israel’s innovation and entrepreneurship.
Macron stated his opposition to a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in French television over the weekend, a break from the policy of his predecessor Francois Hollande, who was on the path of doing so, and unequivocally reiterated his support for a two-state solution between Israel.
He also expressed his opposition to the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.
In Israel over a year and a half ago, however, Macron conveyed France’s support for the labeling of products from Judea and Samaria separately from those produced within Israel’s pre-1967 boundaries. This practice ultimately supports attempts to boycott those goods.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel
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