French ambassadors to Muslim countries protest Macron’s pro-Israel stance

Around ten French ambassadors to the Middle East and North Africa have criticised the pro-Israeli stance adopted by President Emmanuel Macron.

The French daily, Le Figaro, which first reported the news, described it as an “unprecedented” rebellion in the recent history of French diplomacy in the Arab-speaking region.

Their note to Macron said: "Our position in favour of Israel is misunderstood in the Middle East and it breaks with our traditionally balanced position between Israelis and Palestinians."

The pro-Israeli position by France had resulted in a “loss of credibility and influence” for the country in the region largely due to Macron’s public statements, they said.

The crisis of trust between France and the Middle East is “serious” and risks being “long-lasting”, warned the authors of the note.

“We have experienced crises in the past with the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, but we were able to defuse them quite quickly,” said the diplomats.

“This time the distrust towards us is deep and likely to last. Our interlocutors feel that we are betraying ourselves; they believe that our discourse based on humanism is in contradiction with our new approach.

"For them, France with its alternative voice no longer exists,” they added.