France plans to remove a call for the “right of return” for millions of Palestinian refugees to Israel from its declaration, made alongside 60 other countries, for a Palestinian state, Ofer Bronchtein, an advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, told Jewish Insider on Wednesday.

France and Saudi Arabia spearheaded a conference at the U.N. last month to call for a two-state solution, resulting in a declaration calling for Palestinian statehood that was signed by the entire European Union, Arab League and other countries, which is expected to be the text of a U.N. General Assembly resolution next month. 

Article 39 of the declaration calls for “a regional and international framework offering appropriate support to resolving the refugee question, while reiterating the right of return.”

In the context of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the right of return refers to Arab refugees from the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, as well as all of their descendants, amounting to millions of people around the world, who could seek to migrate to sovereign Israel.

Israel has argued that such a move would shift the demographic balance such that Israel would no longer be a Jewish and democratic state.

Yigal Carmon, president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), wrote this week in an X post that the call for a right of return “cancels recognition of Israel” by the U.N., which came in the context of partition between Jews and Arabs on the land. 

“Thus, France and the countries that will support the resolution are adopting the joint Palestinian demand of Hamas and the PLO for a right of return to the State of Israel and cancel the recognition of the State of Israel from May 15, 1948. Such a decision, when it is accepted, will return Israelis and Palestinians to the year 1948 and reopen the violent struggle between the two nations over the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River,” Carmon wrote.

Bronchtein responded to Carmon on X, writing that “this is a mistake that we are correcting. The correct text will be that ‘the sides will negotiate about a solution to the refugee problem.’ Thank you for your understanding and justified concerns.” 

Bronchtein, a French-Israeli dual citizen who also holds a Palestinian Authority passport promised to him by PLO leader Yasser Arafat in recognition of his peace activism, was an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin during the negotiation of the Oslo Accords. He currently serves as the French president’s special envoy to the Middle East.

Bronchtein told JI that opponents of the declaration are nitpicking to undermine it, and said that the declaration “is almost 20 pages long, and those are two words.” 

Still, he acknowledged that the wording of Article 39 “could be problematic.”

“We are working with the Saudis to find a way to make it clear that was not our intention at all. Macron will say this is our stance. We are not planning to force the return of Palestinian refugees anywhere,” he said.

Bronchtein said the intention was to resolve the refugee issue through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. 

“It is clear to all that there are certain topics that we do not want to dictate a resolution to the Israelis and the Palestinians, which are refugees, Jerusalem and borders,” he said.

In addition, Bronchtein said the mention of a “regional and international framework” was intended to refer to the roughly 750,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim lands who became refugees following Israel’s independence. 

Carmon told JI that Bronchtein’s response was insufficient, and that “only changing Article 39 would be a fraud because [the right of return] is in two other places.”

The declaration indirectly recognizes a right of return by supporting the Arab Peace Initiative and U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194, which states that Palestinian “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so…and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return.” 

“They’re saying everyone can return,” Carmon argued. “The difference between this and recognition of a Palestinian state is that they are making a decision about Israel. They are pulling the rug out from under the recognition of the State of Israel.”

“They are opening the gates of hell,” he added.

Carmon criticized the Israeli Foreign Ministry for not addressing this matter. The office of Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon was not available for comment.

Carmon also emphasized that, in February, the emir of Qatar met with Macron and committed to investing 10 billion Euros in France.

Emmanuel Navon, an international relations lecturer at Tel Aviv University, similarly told JI that “Macron is reading the Qatari script, which consists of preserving the right of return while pretending you don’t.”

Navon also expressed skepticism that Bronchtein’s post means the text will, in fact, be amended.

Bronchtein defended France’s move to recognize a Palestinian state, amid vocal opposition from Israel and the U.S. France is also considering opening an embassy in the West Bank city of Ramallah later this year, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Thursday.

“By recognizing a Palestinian state, we are encouraging those who support two states,” he said, while acknowledging that recognition alone does not create a state: “We will help, certainly, but the sides need to work things out.” 

Bronchtein also referred to a letter that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wrote to Macron, who asked for assurances before the U.N. conference.

“It says important things in Arabic and in English,” he noted. “First, it condemns what Hamas did on Oct. 7. Second, it calls for the immediate and unconditional release for the hostages. Third, it calls on Hamas to disarm and surrender. Fourth, it says a Palestinian state will be demilitarized. Fifth, it says there will be a reform in the PA and elections within a year. He agrees to a lot of things the current Israeli government wants.” 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “said two weeks ago that, in the end, the ones who will run Gaza are Palestinians,” Bronchtein said. “That’s what we think too. He said it can’t be Hamas, and everyone agrees, including the Arab League. But then he says it can’t be run by the PA. Then which Palestinians is he talking about? … Abbas is the best Palestinian partner today. He will not be an enthusiastic Zionist. He is an enemy, but a pragmatic one…There is no alternative.” 

Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner have in recent weeks accused Paris of emboldening antisemites by recognizing a Palestinian state and not doing enough to fight antisemitism. Bronchtein argued that France is working hard in that regard, providing security to institutions and enforcing hate crime laws.

“To turn France into an enemy and call the president of France antisemitic crosses every line…It’s a lie to say we encourage antisemitism,” Bronchtein said. “Whoever says recognizing a Palestinian state is a prize for Hamas is lying. Hamas doesn’t want a Palestinian state. They entered Israel on Oct. 7 with green [Islamist] flags, not the Palestinian flag.”