The French Embassy in Israel said Macron will participate in an INSS conference.
Newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron is due to arrive in Israel for his first official visit in 2018.
The centrist’s emphatic victory last week, which also smashed the dominance of France’s mainstream parties, brought huge relief to European allies who had feared another populist upheaval to follow Britain’s vote to quit the EU and Donald Trump’s election as US president.
The 39-year-old former investment banker, who served for two years as economy minister but has never previously held elected office, will now become France’s youngest leader since Napoleon with a promise to transcend outdated left-right divisions.
During his election campaign, Macron expressed himself several times on issues of foreign policy. On a visit to Beirut in January, he referred to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that “the role of France is to conduct an independent and balanced policy that would guarantee a dialogue by all sides and the construction of peace.”
More specifically, Macron clearly stated during his campaign that he objects any efforts to boycott Israel, and considers such attempts antisemitic. Alluding to a court decision on the issue from 2015, he argued that “France has already condemned boycotting Israel, and I have no intention of changing this position.”
Still, Macron is not expected to deviate a great deal from the policy set forth by his predecessor Hollande, of supporting the two-state solution. Philippe Etienne, the current ambassador to Berlin, will serve as Macron’s diplomatic adviser. Considered a remarkable diplomat, Etienne has not been especially involved during his career in Middle East issues, and thus is likely to embrace the path of Ambassador Pierre Vimont, who prepared the Paris 1 and 2 Middle East Conferences (the Israelis and Palestinians were not invited), on June 3, 2016, and January 15, 2017, respectively.
Rina Bassist contributed to this report.
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