'Closure of Consulate': Israel threatens France over Palestine move

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharon Haskel said on Friday that the closure of the French Consulate General in Jerusalem "is now on Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu's desk" in an interview with France Info.

Haskel's remarks marked one of the latest Israeli responses to France's decision to formally recognize a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September.

On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to reconsider France's initiative to recognize a Palestinian state, while saying that French President Emmanuel Macron will not be welcome to visit Israel as long as the move remains on the agenda during a phone call.

The French move undermines stability in the Middle East and harms Israel's national and security interests, according to a statement from Sa'ar's office.

Israel has been under mounting pressure to wrap up its military operations in Gaza, which have created a humanitarian crisis and devastated much of the territory, and bring home the hostages held there.

Amid the mounting criticism, Macron announced that France would formally recognize a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September. Many Western nations, including the UK, Portugal and Canada, have followed in Paris' footsteps.

Netanyahu said on Thursday that such moves contradicted agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which determined that disputed issues would be solved through negotiation, The Times of Israel reported.

"But if they take unilateral steps against us, don't be surprised if we take unilateral steps as well. What we will do exactly, I won't reveal here," the Israeli prime minister said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday also criticized Western countries moving to recognize a Palestinian state, saying he warned them that Israel may respond by annexing the West Bank.

Rubio said that he told all these countries before they went out and they did this, The Times of Israel reported. "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 sorts of reciprocal actions and it would make a ceasefire (in Gaza) harder," Rubio added.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday that maps were being drawn up for annexing territory in the occupied West Bank, land the Palestinians seek for a state.

However, an official from the United Arab Emirates said Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be a "red line" for the UAE, which established formal ties with Israel in 2020 under U.S.-brokered accords.

(With input from agencies)