US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a joint news conference with Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld at the Palacio de Carondelet, in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, September 4, 2025. JACQUELYN MARTIN / VIA REUTERS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, September 4, criticized France and other countries moving to recognize a Palestinian state, saying he warned them Israel may respond by annexing the West Bank.
Rubio declined to join global condemnation of efforts by members of the Israeli government to annex the occupied West Bank in hopes of destroying prospects of an independent Palestinian state. “What you’re seeing with the West Bank and the annexation, that’s not a final thing − that’s something being discussed among some elements of Israeli politics. I’m not going to opine on that today,” Rubio told reporters in Ecuador.
“What I am going to tell you is it was wholly predictable,” he said. “We told all these countries before they went out and they did this… there wasn’t going to be a Palestinian state, because that’s not the way a Palestinian state is going to happen, because they have a press conference somewhere. We told them that it would lead to these sort of reciprocal actions and it would make a ceasefire harder,” Rubio said.
Read more Subscribers only In the West Bank, Israel shuts down any prospect of a Palestinian state
He also repeated his charge that the push to elevate the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank, emboldened rival Hamas in Gaza. “The minute − the day − that the French announced the thing they did, that day, Hamas walked away from the negotiating table,” Rubio said.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called a UN summit for September 22 where he will recognize a Palestinian state, voicing exasperation at the dire humanitarian situation and what he sees as Israeli intransigence.
On Wednesday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for annexation of swaths of the West Bank with an aim to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state” after countries including Belgium, Canada and Australia joined the French push on statehood.
‘No room for a presidential visit,’ says Israel
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Israel’s foreign minister said that his government would not agree to a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron so long as Paris plans to recognize a Palestinian state.
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A statement from Israel’s foreign ministry said Gideon Saar told France’s top diplomat Jean-Noel Barrot in a phone call that “there is no room” for a presidential visit “as long as France persists in its initiative and efforts that harm Israel’s interests”.
Read more Macron’s pledge to recognize State of Palestine sparks anger in Israel
Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had rejected a request by Macron to make a brief visit ahead of the UN General Assembly later this month, where the president plans to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
Paris should “reconsider its initiative”, Foreign Minister Saar told Barrot, arguing that the move would undermine regional stability and harm “Israel’s national and security interests”. “Israel strives for good relations with France, but France must respect the Israeli position when it comes to issues essential to its security and future,” Saar said according to the statement.
Tensions between France and Israel have flared since Macron said France would formally recognize a Palestinian state during the UN meeting. The row escalated last month when Netanyahu accused Macron of fomenting “antisemitism”, with the Elysee hitting back, calling the allegation “abject” and “erroneous”.
Editorial Netanyahu’s manipulation of antisemitism is unworthy
