Three prominent French MPs on Tuesday unveiled a draft law to stop trading with illegal Israeli settlements, as settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank becomes increasingly controversial in Europe.
The three members hope the bill will be adopted this year. France was among several western states that recently recognised Palestinian statehood.
But Israel's aggressive settlement expansion policy means it may soon be impossible for the state to exist, said Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialist Party and a probably candidate for the presidential election next year.
"We must obviously block and ban all forms of imports – whether goods, financial products, investments, or services – that currently enable settlers to continue making a living from the settlements," Mr Faure said as he presented the draft law to the press at the National Assembly.
"We share a belief in a lasting solution for peace in the Middle East, and we believe that this requires a two-state solution. Such a solution is possible only if the very possibility of two states still exists."
France severing ties with Israeli settlements would be a political bombshell in a country that has striven to show it can toe a middle line by supporting Palestinian rights while maintaining close ties with the Israeli government, which it regards as an ally.
Despite criticism of Israel's conduct during the Gaza war, French President Emmanuel Macron has steered clear of decisions made by some neighbouring countries, such as Belgium and Spain, including banning weapons exports to Israel. He has also avoided publicly backing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In France, public criticism of the Israeli government has until recently long been the preserve of the hard left. The country is home to Europe's largest Jewish community – mostly descended from North African families who emigrated in large numbers to France and Israel from the 1960s onwards.
Seeking support
Mr Faure was joined by Greens MP Sabrina Sebaihi and centrist politician Richard Ramos to encourage as many political parties as possible to back their draft law, which they said could be adopted by a majority vote in December.
Mr Ramos, who is from the same political party as Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot – the Democratic Movement – said the party regarded Tuesday's initiative "with benevolence."
"The reason I’m moving forward here is that I believe the government also has the intention to act, perhaps through a different channel, but yes, we are obviously discussing the matter," he said.
France's most pro-Palestinian party, the leftist France Unbowed, has yet to decide on the text, although one of its affiliated MPs last year drafted a similar bill that was never debated in Parliament.
The right and far-right are unlikely to support the draft due to their strong support for Israel. The Israeli government has in the past condemned similar moves as anti-Semitic and defended settlements on security grounds.
Supporters of a ban on trade with settlements say it would be in line with EU policy, under which settlements are illegal since Israel seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice said the occupation was illegal and called on states not to support them economically. Settler violence in the West Bank has soared since the start of the Gaza war and includes killings, arson and blocking Palestinians from access to their agricultural land.
Pressure on the EU Commission
So far, the European Commission has yet to table proposals to EU states to restrict trade with illegal settlements despite a push in the past months led by France and Sweden. At the same time, the French Foreign Ministry has insisted that trade is an EU Commission responsibility.
But EU states are increasingly moving forwards on their own, with Spain and Slovenia introducing bans last year on the trade of goods with settlements. They are set to be followed by Belgium, Ireland and The Netherlands in the coming months. Slovenia's recently elected President Janez Jansa has said he would reverse his predecessor's pro-Palestinian decisions.
A French move would send a clear signal to the European Commission that it needs to follow the shifting mood in Europe on settlements, Ms Sebaihi said.
"There is an urgent need to act. [EU trade] exemptions are possible, and states can certainly take exceptional measures regarding trade when issues such as human dignity are at stake."
Ms Sebaihi gave the example of France convincing another 10 states to recognise Palestine alongside it last year, including G7 countries such as the UK and Canada. "I think that if we do it, even more states will follow suit, and that will force the European Commission to make progress on this issue."
French-Israeli relations have soured in the past years over the Gaza war. This month, France joined a handful of other EU states in issuing visa bans against extremist Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Mr Barrot, alongside other European ministers, expressed outrage at Mr Ben-Gvir's taunting of European flotilla activists who were detained by Israeli forces last month as they tried to break the Gaza blockade. He also transferred reports of their ill-treatment to the French judiciary, which on June 5 launched an investigation into alleged torture and war crimes.
