ABSTRACT
This article examines the rhetoric-practice gap in French foreign policy vis-à-vis Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. It shows that France has maintained a rather stable rhetorical position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Israeli occupation since 1967, based on the condemnation of Israeli settlements in these areas, and the recognition of the Palestinian right to self-determination which, over time, has been crystallised in the French support for the two-state solution. However, in practice France has fallen short of implementing and enforcing measures and policies aimed at the non-recognition of Israeli settlements. France tries to push for the two-state solution internationally, while adopting an accommodating approach towards the occupation when it comes to its bilateral relations with Israel.
