This debate without a vote, organized under article 50-1 of the Constitution, must start at 4 p.m. with a statement from the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, followed by speeches from the speakers of the groups and the presidents of the commissions of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs. The government closes the discussion. It takes place the day after a trip to Israel by the President of the Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, in the company of LR boss Eric Ciotti, during which she affirmed that France “fully” supported Israel and that nothing was to “prevent” the country “from defending itself” in the war between Hamas.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused Yaël Braun-Pivet of “camping in Tel Aviv to encourage the massacre” in Gaza. “Not in the name of the French people!” protested the leader of La France Insoumise on the social network X, posting a video of the Parisian demonstration.
An attack condemned in turn by numerous elected officials, from the majority, from LR, from the RN and even from the PS, where MP Valérie Rabault denounced “abject accusations (…)”. The debate will be an opportunity for the government to reiterate its position, brought to Cairo on Saturday by Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, and which she thus summarized in an interview with La Tribune Sunday : “condemn Hamas and its terrorist action, avoid conflagration in the region and to do this recall that we need a political horizon around the two-state solution, recall that international humanitarian law must be respected, and of course obtain emergency humanitarian access for civilian populations in Gaza.
“Faced with the seriousness of the situation”, Catherine Colonna wants “to believe that the spirit of unity and a sense of responsibility will prevail during this debate”.
“Ceasefire for civilians”
Wishful thinking? At the center of criticism since the massacres perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 for not having described Hamas as “terrorist”, France Insoumise has declared its intention to “hold accountable” Yaël Braun-Pivet for his trip to Israel during of this debate.
The bosses of the PCF and the PS, Fabien Roussel and Olivier Faure, also criticized this trip. Beyond Yaël Braun-Pivet, Olivier Faure attacked Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of not having maintained a “line of neutrality” in the face of the siege of Gaza. The President of the Republic is expected in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, where he is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I cannot, like the head of state, be in unconditional support for Israel”, while Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is “completely in the hands of religious supremacists, of the extreme right”, estimated the first secretary of the PS.
The PCF, EELV, PS and LFI should speak out in favor of a “ceasefire” and the lifting of the blockade of Gaza. We need a “ceasefire for civilians, to allow humanitarian aid to arrive”, explained to AFP Fabien Roussel who will say “that the French position is not up to the task of expressing its solidarity among the Palestinian civilian populations” and that “indignation cannot be selective”.
Within the majority, the objective is to unite around the “president’s line”, which is also “the group’s line”, according to Renaissance boss Sylvain Maillard: “Israel has the right to defend itself (. ..) in the face of terrorist attacks, but Israel must respect humanitarian law.” A line which leaves room for nuanced positions on the question of support for the Israeli government. Thus the president of the Foreign Affairs Commission Jean-Louis Bourlanges intends to evoke the responsibility of the Israeli government in the crisis: “They have built a system where they have crushed any possibility of a future for the Palestinians”, he said to the AFP.