Netanyahu has apparently accused Macron of a “crusade against the Jewish state” [1]. This is simply part of the strategic propaganda. They, (the Greater Israel cohort), understand very well the power of pressing this particular lever. Though its power may be wearing off a little, due to over-use. While Netanyahu has been accusing Macron (and also recently Starmer and the Canadian Prime Minister) of a campaign against “the Jewish state” his Defence Minister has been promising to violate International Law and to defy the whole policy of Western nations (nominal support for the two-state solution):
“This is a decisive response to the terrorist organisations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this land – and it is also a clear message to (French president Emmanuel) Macron and his associates: they will recognise a Palestinian state on paper – but we will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground,” Katz was quoted as saying in a statement from his office. [1]
Possibly the “campaign against the Jewish state” has something to do with their massive violations of international law. While the war crimes in Gaza mount up, and the images of hundreds of thousands of deliberately starved Palestinian civilians are now routine on the Internet, the “Jewish Israeli state” has been going pell-mell ramping up its campaign of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank with state endorsed settler attackers increasing in violence, frequency, boldness and impunity; a process which tends towards the creation of Greater Israel, as indicated by Katz, and in total violation of international law as well as the currently accepted solution to the Israel-Palestine problem. But, as always, any criticism of Israel is portrayed as “anti-Jewish” or “antisemitic”. This is simply a lever they use to harness the power of the lobby.
Finally; what does Netanyahu mean “Jewish state”? Some 20% of the population of Israel is Arab and presumably not Jewish. Calling Israel a “Jewish state” is a bit like the Prime Minister of the UK calling the UK a “white British state”. Necessarily it shows that the state is in fact an apartheid one.
What is amazing is that despite the open, arrogant, insult to President Macron and defiance of all international norms (not just the West, but also Russia and China support the two state solution), it is unlikely that either the EU or even France independently will take any serious concrete action – using their own levers, of diplomatic, trade, research, and military support to punish Israel.
Notes