Huckabee Says France Should Carve Palestinian State out of French Riviera

Tuesday, 3 June 2025 | US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee denounced France’s push for Palestinian statehood on Saturday, telling Fox News that Paris should instead “carve out a piece of the French Riviera” for the Palestinians. 

“October 7 changed a lot of things,” Huckabee said of Hamas’s 2023 murder spree that killed 1,200 people, primarily civilians. “If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I have a suggestion for them—carve out a piece of the French Riviera and create a Palestinian state,” he continued. 

“They are welcome to do that, but they are not welcome to impose that kind of pressure on a sovereign nation. And I find it revolting that they think they have the right to do such a thing,” he said. 

The French Riviera, or Côte d’Azur, is a famed stretch of Mediterranean coastline in the southeastern part of France, renowned for its sun-drenched beaches, luxurious resorts and historic seaside towns. 

On April 9, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Paris “must move toward recognition” of a Palestinian state, warning that he could do so at a June global summit in New York hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz again came out against the move on Friday, threatening to strengthen Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria in response and saying that Macron’s declaration would be “thrown into the dustbin of history,” whereas “the State of Israel will flourish and thrive.” 

“They will establish a Palestinian state on paper, but we will build the Jewish-Israeli state here on the ground,” he added. 

Huckabee on Saturday urged Macron to reconsider, while emphasizing that the Trump administration “simply will not be a part of such a ruse.” 

“It’s incredibly inappropriate in the midst of a war that Israel is dealing with … to go out and present something that, I think, increasingly Israelis are steadfast against,” the diplomat said in the interview with Fox News. 

Some 71% of Israelis oppose establishing a Palestinian state that would include Judea and Samaria, according to a survey published on January 29. Nearly 70% want to extend Israeli sovereignty over the disputed area. 

In February 2024, the Knesset [parliament] plenum voted 99-11 to back a Cabinet decision to reject any unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood. 

All coalition members and most lawmakers of the Zionist opposition parties voted to support the Cabinet statement against “international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.” 

The Israeli government has recently warned some key European nations that any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state could bring about Jerusalem extending its sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly told France, the United Kingdom and other countries that the move could lead Israel to annex Area C of Judea and Samaria and legalize outposts. 

“Unilateral moves against Israel will be met with unilateral moves by Israel,” Sa’ar told his counterparts, the Israel Hayom daily reported. 

“There was a Palestinian state. It was called Gaza,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on February 6. “Look what we received. The biggest massacre since the Holocaust. To establish a Palestinian state after October 7 is a huge prize, not only for Hamas [but also] for Iran.”