'Maintaining balance': Why France supported UN vote to end Israeli occupation

France was among a handful of Israeli allies that voted in favour of a UN resolution demanding an end to Israel's occupation of Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year on Wednesday.

The non-binding resolution, introduced by Palestine, was based on the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) back in July, which said Israel’s presence in the occupied territories was unlawful and had to end. 

A majority of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly voted in favour, while 14 countries, including Israel and the United States voted against it. Forty-three others including the United Kingdom abstained.

Although largely considered as an Israeli ally, France joined Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Belgium, which have all recently expressed a more critical stance on Israel in the context of its war on Gaza, to support the resolution.

Nicolas de Riviere, France’s permanent UN representative, told the General Assembly that his country was “committed to respecting international law” and reaffirmed “its full support for the International Court of Justice”.

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