(JTA) — France’s special envoy to the Middle East said she was fired because she opposed a Palestinian plan to ask the United Nations for statehood.
Valerie Hoffenberg learned over the weekend from a French Foreign Ministry announcement that she had been dismissed. Hoffenberg had been in Israel the previous day and told an Israeli official that she was against the Palestinian statehood declaration expected to come later this month, according to Haaretz. She said a Palestinian state should be formed through bilateral negotiations.
Hoffenberg, who is Jewish, has been in the position since 2008. She is a close political ally of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
She told Haaretz that she had been planning to step down from her post in order to run for Parliament.
