NGOs sue France for failing to recall millions of rigged diesel cars

Three NGOs are taking the French state to court over its failure to remove millions of diesel cars fitted with cheating software from the roads, nearly a decade after the so-called “dieselgate” scandal first broke.


Issued on: 17/09/2025 - RFI

Millions of diesel cars fitted with cheating software are still on French roads, emitting toxic gases far above legal limits. ASSOCIATED PRESS - Michael Probst

France Nature Environnement (FNE), the consumer group CLCV (Consumer Affairs, Housing and Living Environment) and international environmental law group ClientEarth on Wednesday filed a case before the Paris administrative court.

The action, revealed by Radio France and the centrist daily Le Monde, accuses the government of “serious failings” for not recalling cars with fraudulent devices, despite a constitutional duty to guarantee citizens the right to a healthy environment.

The software was designed to detect official emissions tests and switch on pollution controls only during those checks. On the road, cars emitted nitrogen oxides far above legal limits – sometimes between two and 10 times more than allowed.

These gases are linked to thousands of premature deaths.

The three NGOs want the court to recognise the state’s failure and order it to act, with a financial penalty of €50 million every six months if it does not.

Rigged diesel cars caused 16,000 deaths in France, study says

Millions of cars still on roads

The lawsuit follows a formal warning sent in July to then-transport minister Philippe Tabarot and Ecological Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

In the letter, seen by Radio France, FNE, CLCV and ClientEarth wrote: “Everything suggests that the French car fleet still contains a large number of vehicles fitted with illegal devices and continues to produce dangerous levels of pollution.”

In 2023, the International Council on Clean Transportation estimated that more than 3.2 million of these vehicles were still in use in France. By this year, that figure had fallen to 2.7 million, covering more than 200 different models sold between 2009 and 2019.

Volkswagen was the first carmaker exposed when the scandal broke in 2015, but inquiries later showed most major manufacturers – including Renault, PSA, Fiat Chrysler and Opel – had sold models with cheating devices.

Deadly consequences

A study published in May by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air linked excess diesel emissions in France to 16,000 premature deaths since 2009.

The group warned that without corrective measures, a further 8,000 deaths and thousands of new childhood asthma cases could occur by 2040. The economic cost is estimated at €45 billion.

“These vehicles can emit between two and 10 times more nitrogen oxides than they are supposed to,” Anne Lassman-Trappier, air quality spokesperson at FNE, said.

“We have been formally urging the French authorities to act since 2023, and now we have no option left but to go to court. It is staggering that the state is prioritising the economic interests of carmakers over the health of the French people.”

EU to ban fossil fuel car sales by 2035, slash truck and bus emissions

Limited recalls

Since 2018, European Union rules have required countries to create a body to check suspect vehicles and enforce recalls. France set up the Vehicle and Engine Market Surveillance Service (SSMVM) in 2020.

But Radio France found that the authority completed only 16 tests for cheating software in 2023 and 20 in 2024. Just four car models were subject to corrective decisions, and only two recalls were actually carried out – covering a total of 16,459 vehicles.

One recall – for 12,800 Peugeot 308 cars – was announced in September, after tests showed the exhaust system allowed excess emissions over time.

“We ask owners to contact their approved dealer so our services can recalibrate the software concerned,” Peugeot said.

Other cases demonstrate how slowly action has been taken. The recall of the Opel Meriva, covering 3,659 vehicles, was not published until a year after excess emissions were detected.

In another case involving the Volvo V40, authorities decided not to extend corrective measures to other models despite identifying high nitrogen oxide levels.

These two cases were among the four models that the SSMVM says have triggered corrective decisions.

Criminal investigations

In the United States, Volkswagen was forced to buy back affected cars and pay billions in compensation soon after the scandal emerged.

In France, several criminal investigations are still underway, with prosecutors seeking fraud charges against Volkswagen, Peugeot-Citroën, Renault and Fiat Chrysler, but no trials have yet begun. All the manufacturers contest the charges.

“We cannot just wait for the courts to act,” said Lassman-Trappier. “The state must remove these vehicles from the market and make the carmakers fix them at their own expense. France has a legal duty. But by protecting the car industry, it is putting lives at risk.”

(with newswires)

Kenya: Fraud scandal robs millions of health care, pensions

Hussna Mohamed

DW

Kenya's pension and health insurance systems were meant to bring people dignity in old age. But fraud, delays and broken promises have left retirees and patients paying with their savings — and even their lives.

Kenyans have been up in arms about government fraud and corruption

Image: James Wakibia/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/picture alliance


For decades, Kenya's public pension and health insurance systems have promised workers security in retirement and protection during illness.

But for many citizens, these promises have now turned into frustration and betrayal as the money they faithfully contributed has ended up in the pockets of fraudsters within the system.

In 2024, a report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu revealed more than 260,000 cases of fraudulent activities targeting pension schemes in Kenya.

Between 2013 and 2020, over 67 billion Kenyan shillings ($515 million, €442 million) were lost through fake pension scheme payments.

Meanwhile, legitimate retirees have been left empty-handed, and older people are passing away while still waiting to receive the pensions they worked so hard for.

Kenyan President Ruto is facing public outrage on various issues

Image: Shisia Wasilwa/DW

One person DW spoke with declined to be quoted for this story, fearing that speaking out would doom any remaining chance of ever receiving what their family is still owed.

John Wachira, the secretary general of the Kenya Association of Retired Officers, however, does speak out.

"When you join the pension scheme, you're promised that when you retire, you will get your pension. And it will be regularly reviewed, so that if salaries are increased, your pension will also be reviewed. But that does not happen," he told DW.

Instead of enjoying the fruits of their labor, retired Kenyans are still facing chronic delays, requests for bribes and opaque processes that leave them feeling powerless.

Public deductions, private burdens

Payments to the country's pension and health insurance schemes are mandatory for Kenyans; you cannot opt out. Pension contributions are made through the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), and health insurance is provided via the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

However, many Kenyans feel forced to pay for private insurance on top of the public insurance to ensure they receive the care they need when required. But this option is mostly limited to the middle and upper classes, as many Kenyans can't afford to pay twice.

Wachira argues people expect a pension to ensure that "when you leave the service, you maintain a certain standard" — the same standard, he said, when you are in service, and which shouldn't "drop down because of inflation."

If contributions are mandatory and consistent, but payouts aren't, where does the money go?

How pension frauds drained funds

The 2024 Auditor General's report painted senior officials managing the pension scheme as fraudsters who colluded within the National Treasury to steal from the fund through nonexistent persons and double payments to duplicate accounts.

Around 15,000 people benefited from fraudulent pension payments totaling over $15 million, according to the report.

Some of these payments went to individuals who started receiving pension payments even before they had officially retired. Some received payouts despite not following the right procedures. Others were given a payout without being registered at all, as they were only added to the system later to cover their tracks in case they were audited.

The report also highlighted issues with delays, bureaucracy and systemic data weaknesses, like a lack of proper identification and missing records.

Auditors found serious systemic loopholes in the pension scheme, with irregularities found in nearly all major ministries, including those for foreign affairs, social protection and the judiciary.

For those who do end up receiving their pensions, they claim that the pay does not reflect the inflation situation in the country.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi (center) wants to make the pension system less vulnerableImage: PATRICK MEINHARDT/AFP

The scale of the problem is difficult to measure, as there are no concrete formal records of those affected, and most cases go unreported. But based on multiple accounts, the issue affects people across different segments of society from the lower to the middle class.

In a recent case that sparked nationwide anger, a retired teacher, Violet Akoth Nyatol, lost over 2,400,000 Kenyan shillings in pension payouts after corrupt pension officials colluded with bank staff to divert her benefits.

In Kenya, this would have been enough to buy a small plot of land in her hometown.
Health insurance funds also blundered

In what's been another devastating blow to government credibility, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has recently admitted that the health insurance scheme was also the target of fraud.

On July 1, Duale announced that 35 hospitals across the country are accused of stealing over $804 million from the health tax fund to which Kenyans contribute.

Fraud and corruption within Kenya's public health insurance system have been ongoing issues since the establishment of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in 1966, with various scandals over the decades highlighting systemic weaknesses and mismanagement.

In 2024, NHIF was replaced by the Social Health Authority (SHA), which aimed to introduce a more comprehensive health insurance system with multiple schemes to improve access and affordability.

But the new authority is already grappling with cases of corruption, fraud and mismanagement.

Kenya: Gen Z activists form ranks to pursue political change  03:31

In a post on X in late August, Duale noted that the fraudulent claims to the SHA included "falsifying records, inflating and phantom billing, upcoding (when a provider bills for a more expensive procedure) and converting outpatient visits into costly inpatient claims."


Geoffrey Mwaniki feels cheated after an experience at an Kenyan hospital.

He was admitted to Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret on July 1 and was forced to cover his own bills out of pocket despite making monthly contributions to the SHA fund.

Speaking with DW, Mwaniki said that SHA denied him the code he needed to release the necessary funds, telling him that "the system was down," which was why "the password to release the funds could not be generated."

When the system came back on, he said, SHA acknowledged his request but argued they would "not be handling cases that had been submitted while the system was down."

The problem was not "by coincidence, but it was by design," said Mwaniki, suspecting the frequent breakdowns of the system were meant to "keep patients from accessing their money."

Some pensioners die while waiting for their payments, and workers are denied health careImage: Joerg Boethling/IMAGO

"It really killed me, because I had to borrow some money to offset my bill so that I may be discharged from the hospital," he said.

If he had a choice, he wouldn't have SHA insurance, he added but unfortunately, "it is mandatory."

Is digitalization a possible fix or another empty promise?

To end widespread delays and fraud targeting retirees, the Kenyan government promised to fully digitize the pension payment system from July 1, 2025.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi told Kenyan Senate lawmakers that the current manual system not only delays pension disbursements but also exposes retirees to sophisticated fraud schemes.

However, the public unrest that began earlier this year shows that many Kenyans have already lost confidence in the government's policies, including in the social security systems that are mandatory to pay into to but don't always pay out.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler

Disruptions to transport and tourist sites: What to expect from France’s September 18 strike

Explainer


French unions will hold a nationwide strike on Thursday against the government’s 2026 budget plan. Authorities expect up to 800,000 protesters, with schools and tourist sites affected and disruptions expected on Paris and regional transport networks.


Issued on: 17/09/2025 - 
FRANCE24
By: Anaelle JONAH

A person uses a megaphone during a demonstration at the Place de la Republique square, in Paris, on September 10, 2025. © Julien de Rosa, AFP

French trade unions have called for a nationwide strike and protests on Thursday to oppose "brutal" budget measures unveiled over the summer – measures that new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has so far refused to rule out.

After meeting with Lecornu on Monday, the hardline CGT union said they were more determined than ever, despite the government’s announcement that it would drop a controversial plan to cut two public holidays. "He didn’t commit to anything. None of the disastrous policies from [former Prime Minister] François Bayrou’s tenure have been scrapped," said union leader Sophie Binet.

Lecornu, who promised "substantive changes" on taking office, held talks with most unions over the last week. But union chiefs are standing firm on their call to mobilise on September 18, hoping to shape the future budget.


Up to 800,000 demonstrators

Nine unions will march together for the first time since June 2023, when they fought against pension reform. The CGT said Monday that more than 220 rallies were already planned across France, with the tally still rising.

Union leaders aim to surpass the “Block Everything” movement, a grassroots protest that started on social media and drew nearly 200,000 participants on September 10, according to the interior ministry, but fell short of closing down the country as hoped. Whether those protesters – many of them wary of unions – will join Thursday’s strike remains uncertain.

Protesters clash with police in France as new PM starts job

© France 24
04:59



“We want a million people with us,” CFTC union leader Cyril Chabanier told RTL television. Authorities estimate turnout could surpass 800,000, four times as many as on September 10, and fear several hundred radical protesters may join the marches.

In a joint statement released in late August, unions denounced the government’s budget measures as "unprecedented brutality", accusing it of once again making "workers, the unemployed, retirees and the sick" pay the price.

They point to sweeping cuts in public services, another overhaul of unemployment insurance, a freeze on benefits and public sector pay, lower pensions, doubled medical fees and even threats to France’s fifth week of paid leave.

The scrapping of plans to cut two public holidays – widely condemned by unions – was hailed by CGT’s Binet as "a first victory" and proof that "we are in a position of strength".

Even the CFDT union, usually cautious about joining street protests, confirmed it would march. "The budget as it stands is not compatible with social, fiscal and environmental justice," CFDT leader Marylise Léon told France Inter.

Major disruption in Paris transport

Paris transport operator RATP faces major disruption, with its four biggest unions all calling for a strike. On its website Tuesday night, the RATP advised passengers to work from home or postpone travel if possible.

The company’s second-largest union said it expects "a black day" with some metro lines completely closed and others only partially running. It estimated strike participation at "90% among metro drivers and 80% among RER drivers".

Only fully automated metro lines (Lines 1, 4 and 14) will run normally; others will operate only at peak hours.

Some bus lines will be cancelled and tram service on the T5, T7 and T8 lines will be disrupted.

The RER will also be affected, with heavy disruption expected on lines D and E.

RATP recommends using its online planner or the Bonjour RATP app to check real-time updates, track alternative routes and monitor onboard crowding.To plan a metro or RER journey with updated information, use the Paris transport system's online planner, available in English here.

To ease travel, RATP is partnering with Lime to offer access to 3,000 free bikes worth €1 each for rentals made directly through the app. “It’s first come, first served,” the website says.

Regional trains also affected

Regional train services will also be disrupted, varying by area. The SNCF is bracing for walkouts after unions called on all railway workers to strike.

Workers stand next to a SNCF regional train at the railway station in Nantes two days before a strike by French state-owned railway SNCF workers, in France, on September 16, 2025. © Stephane Mahe, Reuters

Outgoing Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said nine out of 10 high-speed TGV trains will be running while SNCF's regular network, Intercités, would see "significant disruption", with just one train in two operating. Around three out of five regional trains (TER) are expected to run.

Air France faces strike notices from at least three unions, although air-traffic controllers have delayed their walkout.To check flights in real time, visit the Aéroports de Paris website in English

Museums and monuments impacted

Museums and landmarks across the country could see limited access or closures. The Arc de Triomphe is already closed a day ahead of the strike. “Due to a social movement (strike), the monument is exceptionally closed today,” the website states.

The Louvre warned that opening could be delayed and some galleries may remain closed. Versailles also said it could not guarantee access to the château and grounds due to the strike.

Visitors are advised to check official websites and plan ahead. Regular opening hours remain in force unless otherwise announced, and any updates will likely be provided if the strike continues.

One-third of primary teachers expected to strike

The largest primary school union expects one-third of nursery and primary teachers to strike. “Public schools urgently need adequate resources and a real budget,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to its back-to-school survey, almost 3,000 classes across more than 6,000 schools had no assigned teacher this year. Over 80% of schools reported having at least one class with more than 22 pupils, and 57% had at least one pupil without a support assistant for children with disabilities.

Last week, the education ministry estimated that 6% of teachers joined the September 10 “Block Everything” protests, mostly in secondary schools. This time the strike is expected to be more widely followed.

Disruption is also expected in school canteens and after-school services in some cities.
90% of pharmacies to stay closed

French pharmacies are also joining Thursday’s nationwide strike, with around nine out of 10 expected to close. Participation is forecast at 85-90%, though some will stay open to provide essential services.

Unlike most sectors, the pharmacists’ protest is not over the 2026 budget but related to government cuts to the rebate for generics, which account for roughly a third of pharmacy margins. The government cap has already fallen from 40% to 30% and is set to drop further, to 20% by 2027. Unions warn the measure could force thousands of closures and job losses, and affect access to essential medicines such as antibiotics, antidiabetic drugs and anti-epileptics.

French strikes delay Bayeux Tapestry transfer ahead of British Museum loan


Nationwide strikes planned for Thursday in France have forced a delay in the transfer to another location of the Bayeux Tapestry ahead of its historic planned loan to the British Museum in London next year, an official said.


Issued on: 17/09/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24

The Bayeux Tapestry dates from around 1077. © Loic Venance, AFP



Protests and strikes planned for Thursday in France have forced a delay in the transfer to a secret location of the Bayeux Tapestry ahead of its historic planned loan to the UK next year, an official said.

French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to loan the medieval tapestry – which records the 1066 Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England – to the British Museum in 2026 to celebrate Franco-British relations.

After the museum where the tapestry is held in the town of Bayeux in Normandy closed for renovations, the tapestry was due to be removed Thursday to a secret location in France ahead of the loan.

"Due to the expected mobilisation tomorrow (Thursday)", the local authorities do not consider they are "able to ensure the security of such a high-profile transfer and ... of such an expensive work", said Philippe Bélaval, the French presidency's envoy for the British Museum loan.

Iconic Bayeux Tapestry goes to UK for first time in 900 years

France to loan iconic Bayeux Tapestry to UK for first time in 900 years © France 24
01:54

The location of the place where the tapestry is due to be kept safely ahead of the loan has not been revealed.

This transfer operation will take place "in the coming days", the envoy told AFP.

Critics have said the transfer to the UK risks causing damage to the priceless artefact. A petition posted online on change.org has called on Macron to stop a "true heritage crime".

Bélaval has previously defended the transfer, insisting that there is is no suggestion that the loan to the UK will damage the tapestry.

The tapestry's loan will mark the first time in its almost 1,000-year lifetime that the 68-metre-long piece, which dates from around 1077, will be on British soil.

Read moreFast facts on the Bayeux Tapestry

It will be loaned to the British Museum for 10 months from September 2026. French museums will in exchange be loaned ancient treasures mainly from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo site, one of England's most important archaeological hoards.

France was on Thursday bracing for a day of nationwide disruption in a show of anger over Macron's budget policies.

Unions have vowed mass protests, public transport is set to be paralysed in places due to strikes while officials have warned of the possibility of extremists causing disturbances.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Mass protests erupt in Buenos Aires over Milei's austerity cuts


Tens of thousands of Argentines flooded the streets of Buenos Aires on Wednesday, demanding increased funding for public universities and pediatric hospitals, sectors hit hard by President Javier Milei’s sweeping austerity measures. The mass mobilisation marks the latest flashpoint in a growing backlash against the libertarian leader.


Issued on: 18/09/2025 -
By: FRANCE 24

People celebrate the annulment of the budget veto voted on in Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on September 17, 2025. © Luis Robayo, AFP

Tens of thousands of Argentines filled the streets of downtown Buenos Aires on Wednesday to demand increased funding for universities and pediatric care, which have suffered cuts under libertarian President Javier Milei's austerity measures.

Milei's popularity has declined following his deep budget cuts, and he is dealing with the fallout from a corruption scandal and a legislative defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections earlier this month.

Milei faces high-stakes midterm elections in October, in which his party aims to secure enough seats to keep the opposition-controlled Congress from overriding his vetoes.

Argentina's Milei suffers major electoral setback as left wins Buenos Aires province

Wednesday's protest aims to pressure legislators to reject Milei's vetoes earlier this month of laws that would have increased funding of public universities and pediatric hospitals. In presidential decrees, Milei said the laws would harm the country's fiscal balance.

On Wednesday evening, Congress' lower house voted to overturn both vetoes. The Senate must also do so in order for the vetoes to be overturned.

Since Milei took office in December 2023, he has dramatically slashed public spending and succeeded in bringing down monthly inflation from double to single digits. On Monday he announced the government's proposal for next year's budget, which he said would guarantee a fiscal balance while also including increases of 17% in allocations for healthcare, 8% for education and 5% for pensions, on top of inflation.

But in a statement, the National University of Buenos Aires said the proposed budget "doesn't do more than deepen the unprecedented crisis" that the public university system is experiencing. It held that the proposal does not take into account resuming halted infrastructure projects and maintenance and increasing teacher salaries.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)

ABOLISHING THE FIRST AMENDMENT

ABC pulls late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off air after Charlie Kirk comments


ABC says late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be suspended immediately after Kimmel accused Republicans of doing "everything they can to score political points" from Kirk’s killing. ABC’s announcement came just minutes after one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the US, Nexstar Media, said it would replace Kimmel's show with other programming.


Issued on: 18/09/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24

US talk show host/comedian Jimmy Kimmel at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, California, in February 2023. © Patrick T. Fallon, AFP

Jimmy Kimmel's late-night television show has been taken off air "indefinitely" after the host was criticised for comments about the motives behind the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, ABC said.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely," an ABC spokesperson told AFP, using a television industry term for when a show is replaced or removed from the schedule.

Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead last week during a speaking event on a Utah university campus.

Authorities said 22-year-old Tyler Robinson used a rifle to shoot Kirk with a single bullet to the neck from a rooftop. He was arrested and has been formally charged with his murder.

On Monday, Kimmel spoke about the shooting in his popular late-night show's monologue.

"We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it," said Kimmel.

"MAGA" refers to the president's "Make America Great Again" movement.

The White House this week said it would be pursuing an alleged left-wing "domestic terror movement" in the wake of Kirk's killing, prompting alarm that such a campaign could be used to silence political dissent.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

'Jimmy Kimmel Live' pulled off air over Charlie Kirk comment

Kalika Mehta 

DW with AP, Reuters

18/09/2025 

ABC network is taking "Jimmy Kimmel Live" off the air indefinitely in response to comments the late-night host made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

ABC network announced Thursday it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel's long-running late-night series off the air in response to comments he made about Charlie Kirk's killing.

"Mr. Kimmel's comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located," said Nexstar Media Group, an owner of ABC TV affiliates.

The announcement comes after CBS network announced in July that it was canceling its most watched show in late night, "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert."

What has happened since Kirk's killing?

Kirk, a political activist with close ties to US President Donald Trump, was shot and killed at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University last week.

The man accused of killing Kirk has since been arrested and prosecutors have announced seven state charges, including aggravated murder, against him. They have also said they're going to seek the death penalty against the suspected killer.

Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA and is widely credited with helping Trump take back the White House in 2024 by galvanizing conservative youth to vote for him.

Charlie Kirk shooting deepens divide in US politics  02:25

What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?

On Monday, Jimmy Kimmel spoke about the shooting in his popular late-night show, saying:

"We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA [Make America Great Again] gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it."

He went on to criticize Trump's mourning of Kirk, pointing to a video of Trump's comments on the White House lawn, saying: "This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish."

Before Thursday's announcement, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr called for local broadcasters to stop airing "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and suggested the commission could open an investigation.

He said broadcasters could potentially be fined or lose their licenses if there was a pattern of distorted comment.

Trump says canceling Kimmel's show is 'great news'

US President Donald Trump, who has sparred with Kimmel in the past, called the decision "great news for America."

"Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED," Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social. "Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible."

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar

Kalika Mehta Sports reporter

FASCIST CALLS ANTIFA TERRORISTS

Trump says designating anti-fascist Antifa movement a 'terrorist organization'


US President Donald Trump said early Thursday that he plans to designate Antifa as a “major terrorist organization.” Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is an umbrella term for left-wing groups. It is unclear how the Trump administration would label what is effectively a decentralised movement as a terror group.

Issued on: 18/09/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would designate "Antifa" – a shorthand term for "anti-fascist" used to describe diffuse left-wing groups – as "a major terrorist organization," a move he has threatened since his first term.

Trump, who is on a state visit to the United Kingdom, made the announcement in a social media post shortly before 1:30 am Thursday local time. He called Antifa a “SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER.” He also said he will be “strongly recommending” that funders of antifa be investigated.

Trump on Monday threatened to go through with such a designation after senior White House official Stephen Miller vowed the administration would dismantle an alleged "vast domestic terror movement" that he linked to the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

Trump since his first term has ascribed blame to Antifa for various actions he dislikes, from violence against police to conducting the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.


While federal law enforcement includes combating domestic terrorism under its purview, the United States does not have a list of designated "domestic terrorist organizations."

Read moreCharlie Kirk critics are losing their jobs for online comments made after his death

It’s unclear how the administration would label what is effectively a decentralised movement as a terrorist organisation, and the White House on Wednesday did not immediately offer more details.

Trump’s previous FBI director, Christopher Wray, said in testimony in 2020 that Antifa is an ideology, not an organisation, lacking the hierarchical structure that would usually allow it to be designated as a terror group by the federal government.

After Trump's post, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., praised the announcement, saying: "Antifa seized upon a movement of legitimate grievances to promote violence and anarchy, working against justice for all. The President is right to recognise the destructive role of Antifa by designating them domestic terrorists.”

In July 2019, Cassidy and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a resolution in the Senate to condemn the violent acts of Antifa and to designate the group a domestic terror organisation.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

US adversaries stoke Kirk conspiracy theories, researchers warn

Washington (AFP) – Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state media are exploiting conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination to advance thousands of false claims aimed at undermining the United States and other adversaries, a research group warned Wednesday.


Issued on: 18/09/2025 - FRANCEW24

Foreign influence campaigns have frequently used US political crises or natural diasters to stoke tensions, researchers say. © JOSH EDELSON / AFP

Official media in the three countries mentioned Kirk -- a close ally of President Donald Trump -- 6,200 times since the activist was shot dead last week during a speaking event on a Utah university campus, the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard reported citing data gathered using a social media analytics tool.

The assessment comes after the United States eliminated a key government agency that tracked foreign disinformation in April, framing the move as an effort to preserve "free speech," even as leading experts monitoring propaganda raised the alarm about the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries.

NewsGuard's report echoed recent warnings from Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who cautioned last week that US adversaries were spreading disinformation surrounding Kirk's killing to inflame political tensions.

"What we are seeing is our adversaries want violence," Cox said.

"We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world, that are trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence."

Capitalizing on crisis

Much of the disinformation originated from Russian state media, which falsely claimed Ukrainian involvement and attempted to link the killing to Kirk’s opposition to American military aid to Kyiv, NewsGuard said.

There was no evidence linking Ukraine to the assassination.

US authorities have said that a 22-year-old US citizen from Utah named Tyler Robinson allegedly used a rifle to shoot Kirk from a rooftop. He was arrested and has been formally charged with murder.

Iranian state media baselessly accused Israel -- Tehran's arch enemy -- of orchestrating the killing in retaliation for Kirk's opposition to a US military strike on Iran, NewsGuard's report said.

They framed the killing as an operation by Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, an unfounded claim that researchers say reflects Tehran's longstanding pattern of blaming its adversary for major crises.

Meanwhile, Chinese outlets spread disinformation about Robinson, baselessly claiming that he donated money to the Trump's campaign in 2020.

"Pro-China commentators used Kirk's assassination to mock the US and spread false information about the suspect, portraying America as deeply divided," NewsGuard said.

Foreign influence campaigns have frequently used US political crises, elections, or natural disasters to stoke tensions, disinformation experts say.

Some researchers warn that the United States may be ill-prepared to confront the rising threat of foreign disinformation.

In April, Secretary of State Marco Rubio shut down the State Department's Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) hub -- an agency formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC) -- which was responsible for tracking and countering disinformation from foreign actors.

Last week, the Financial Times reported that European countries had received a notice from the State Department that it was terminating memoranda of understanding signed last year under Joe Biden's administration, which had aimed to establish a unified approach to countering disinformation by foreign governments.

"The United States has ceased all frameworks to counter foreign state information manipulation and any associated instruments implemented by the former administration," the State Department said Wednesday, without elaborating.

© 2025 AFP

Top UN Gaza investigator hopeful Israeli leaders will be prosecuted

Geneva (AFP) – The UN investigator who this week accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza said she sees parallels with the butchery in Rwanda, and that she hopes one day Israeli leaders will be put behind bars.


Issued on: 18/09/2025 - FRANCE24

Independent UN investigator Navi Pillay says she does not think it 'impossible' that Israeli leaders could end up behind bars for what her commission says is a genocide occurring in Gaza © Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Navi Pillay, a South African former judge who headed the international tribunal for the 1994 Rwanda genocide and also served as UN human rights chief, acknowledged that justice "is a slow process".

But as late South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson "Mandela said, it always seems impossible until it's done", she told AFP in an interview.

"I consider it not impossible that there will be arrests and trials" in the future.

Pillay's Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, issued a bombshell report on Tuesday concluding that "genocide is occurring in Gaza" -- something Israel vehemently denies.

The investigators also concluded that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant have "incited the commission of genocide".

Israel categorically rejected the findings and slammed the report as "distorted and false".

But for Pillay, the parallels to Rwanda -- where some 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were slaughtered -- are clear.

As head of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, she says watching footage of civilians being killed and tortured had marked her "for life".

"I see similarities" to what is happening in Gaza, she said, pointing to "the same kind of methods".

Displaced Palestinians flee the following renewed Israeli evacuation orders for Gaza City on September 16, 2025 © Eyad BABA / AFP


While Tutsis were targeted in Rwanda's genocide, she said "all the evidence (indicates) it is Palestinians as a group that is being targeted" in Gaza.

Israeli leaders, she said, had made statements, including calling Palestinians "animals", which recalled the demonising rhetoric used during the Rwanda genocide, when Tutsis were labelled as "cockroaches".

In both cases, she said the target population is "dehumanised", signalling that "it's ok to kill them".

'Traumatic'

The International Criminal Court has already issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for suspected war crimes.

Smoke billows during an Israeli strike on Gaza as the country carries out a new assault on the besieged Palestinian territory © Jack GUEZ / AFP


Pillay said securing accountability would not be easy, highlighting that the ICC "does not have its own sheriff or police force to do the arrests".

But she stressed that popular demand could bring about sudden change, as it had in her home country.

"I never thought apartheid will end in my lifetime," she said.

Pillay, who rose through the ranks to become a judge in apartheid South Africa despite her Indian heritage, has a knack for handling difficult cases.

Her career has taken her from defending anti-apartheid activists and political prisoners in South Africa to the Rwanda tribunal, the ICC and on to serving as the UN's top human rights official from 2008 to 2014.

The 83-year-old took on a particularly daunting mission four years ago when she agreed to chair the freshly-created COI tasked with investigating rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

Since than, she and her two co-commissioners have faced a barrage of accusations of bias and antisemitism, which they deny, and a recent social media campaign urging Washington to sanction them, as it has ICC judges, Palestinian NGOs and a UN expert focused on the situation in Gaza.

The pressure has been intense, but Pillay says the hardest thing for her team has been viewing video evidence from the ground.

"Watching those videos is just traumatic," she said, pointing to images of "sexual violence of women (and abuse of) doctors who were stripped naked by the military."

Pillay says she sees parallels in Gaza with the Rwandan genocide, where some 800,000 people were slaughtered in 1994 - including the person buried in this grave in a Kigali cemetery © ALESSANDRO ABBONIZIO / AFP


"It's so painful" to watch.

Pillay said that going forward, the commission aims to draft a list of suspected perpetrators of abuses in Gaza, and also explore the suspected "complicity" of countries supporting Israel.

That work will meanwhile be left to her successor, since Pillay will be leaving the commission in November, citing her age and health concerns.

Before that, she said she had her visa ready to travel to New York to present her report to the UN General Assembly.

So far, she said, "I have heard nothing about that visa being withdrawn".

© 2025 AFP

Eurovision: Countries to boycott if Israel competes

Silke Wünsch 

 DW

September 17, 2025

The Eurovision Song Contest is supposed to be apolitical. But Israel is now at the center of calls for boycott and protests, due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Following announcements from Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland, Spain became on Wednesday the first country among the "Big Five," the five largest contributors to the Eurovision Song Contest, to officially declare its decision to boycott the 2026 event to be held in Vienna from May 12-16, if Israel's participation goes ahead as planned. The "Big Five" countries are Spain, Germany, the UK, France and Italy.

The country's withdrawal was approved by a majority of the board of directors of Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, with 10 votes in favour, four against, and one abstention. The vote came after Spanish Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, stated last week that Spain should withdraw from the event if Israel remained on the list of participating countries.

Dutch public broadcaster, AVROTROS, also stated that it could "no longer justify Israel's participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza."

A decision on Israel's participation is expected in December.

JJ from Austria won the contest in 2025, which is why the next event will be held in ViennaImage: Baden Roth/IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

Why is Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest?

Israel made its debut at Eurovision in 1973, when it was still called the "Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson." That was when the country became a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an association including 73 active members of broadcasters from 56 countries and 35 associate members from 21 countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Israel is not the only non-European participant in the contest. There's also Armenia and Azerbaijan — and since 2015, Australia has become the "most exotic" Eurovision competitor. The show has a huge fan base there, and Australia was accepted into the EBU as an associate member.

The inclusion of broadcasters and countries beyond the borders of Europe is also the reason why the event is called the "Eurovision Song Contest" and not the "European Song Contest."

With four first places, Israel is one of the most successful participants. But the Israel-Palestine conflict has impacted the contest several times over the past five decades.

Israeli Netta Barzilai won the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, bringing the event to Tel Aviv a year laterI

mage: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS/dpa/picture alliance

Security for Israeli contestants

In 1973, Ilanit was the first artist to compete for Israel. Strict security measures were implemented because, only a few months earlier, Palestinian terrorists had killed 11 Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village in Munich. Ilanit was supposedly wearing a bulletproof vest, and the audience had to remain seated throughout her performance. Photographers had to take a picture pointing at the ceiling to prove that their cameras were not disguised firearms.

In 2024, Israeli contestant Eden Golan also performed under special protection. Several participating countries had called on the EBU to exclude Israel from the contest. The EBU considered it, but not because of the Gaza war itself. EBU officials feared the original title of Israel's entry, "October Rain," was too explicit a reference to the event that triggered the Gaza war: the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 were taken hostage in Gaza. Once the lyrics of the song were changed, Golan's participation was allowed to go ahead.

There were already calls for Israel's withdrawal in 2024, the year Eden Golan (center) represented the country

Image: Jessica Gow/TT News Agency/AP/picture alliance

Fines for pro-Palestinian protests

The repeated use of protest symbols and slogans by the audience or by artists has not gone unpunished. This became particularly clear in Tel Aviv in 2019.

On the evening of the Eurovision final, the Icelandic band Hatari held up scarves with Palestinian flags to the camera, causing controversy. The EBU fined the Icelandic broadcaster RUV €5,000.

During a performance by global superstar Madonna that same evening a male dancer and a female dancer — one carrying the Israeli flag and the other carrying the Palestinian flag — walked up the stairs arm in arm. The US singer later said that this was a "message of peace and unity." But the EBU was less enthusiastic about it. Though there was no fine in this case, the contest organizers released a statement saying the act was not cleared with them and that Madonna was aware the contest was non-political.

The competitions in Malmö in 2024 and Basel in 2025 also witnessed protests critical of Israel. In the hall, audience members whistled and booed the Israeli performers.

This article was originally written in German.


Silke Wünsch Reporter and editor at DW's culture desk

Interview

Mideast conflict: 'Dialogue of the deaf' doomed two-state solution, but are history's lessons heard?

In their new book, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”, veteran Middle East negotiators Robert Malley and Hussein Agha examine how and why the stubborn adherence to the two-state solution narrative to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict failed. FRANCE 24 spoke to Malley about the diplomatic mistakes of the past and its implications for the future of Israelis and Palestinians.


Issued on: 17/09/2025 - FRANCE24
By: Leela JACINTO

Displaced Palestinians move southwards in the central Gaza Strip on September 16, 2025. © Eyad Baba, AFP



In September 1999, just months after Israel’s Labour party candidate Ehud Barak beat Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu in a snap election, then US president Bill Clinton’s special Middle East envoy hosted a small dinner gathering.

The mood at the dinner table was hopeful. The Oslo Accords, signed six years earlier with much fanfare on the White House lawn, had been in tatters after Netanyahu came to power following the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. With an Israeli Labour leader now back in power, the Americans were giving Middle East peace a chance – again.

That’s where a young Robert Malley and even younger Hussein Agha met for the first time. Malley at that time was Clinton’s special assistant for Arab-Israeli affairs. The Oxford-educated Agha had been sent by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the Palestinian delegation.

More than a quarter-century later, Malley and Agha have co-authored a book, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine”, which hit the US bookshelves on Tuesday, grabbed headlines in top policy publications, and delivered a gut punch to pundits and envoys who have built careers negotiating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


Read more The demolition of Gaza City: Can Israel ignore growing outrage?

Both Malley and Agha have spent several years as Middle East negotiators. Malley has served under former US presidents Clinton, Barack Obama – when he was lead negotiator of the 2015 Iran nuclear accord – and Joe Biden. Agha is a senior associate member of Oxford’s St. Anthony’s College and has been involved in Israel-Palestinian affairs for more than 30 years.

Their book, a brutally honest insider account of the US-led Mideast peace process, examines the centrality of the two-state solution as the guiding – or more accurately, misguiding – philosophy underpinning diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

As the title suggests, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” seeks to examine the lessons of the past in a bid to try to address the future for Palestinians and Israelis.

It comes as France is leading a global diplomatic initiative calling for an independent Palestinian state and the effective implementation of the two-state solution at the UN General Assembly (UNGA 2025) in New York next week.

FRANCE 24 spoke with Robert Malley about his latest book and its implications amid mounting international calls for an end to Israel’s brutal Gaza war.

FRANCE 24: Your new book comes just as France, along with Saudi Arabia, is spearheading a drive to recognise a Palestinian state at the 2025 UN General Assembly. What's your take on this effort?

Robert Malley: Well, let me start with the main theme of the book because it’s a way to answer your question. One of the questions we're trying to answer is, where are the Israelis and Palestinians today and why? And our basic answer hints to the title of the book, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”: it’s that we're back to a time decades ago, perhaps as long as eight decades ago, when Palestinians once again are being forced to flee, and flee from a place they had to flee to, attacked, and attacked in the place they were told to take refuge, dispossessed, having lost everything and being the victims of an unspeakable ordeal.

On the Israeli side, the feeling, again from decades past, was that they, on October 7 [2023], were facing the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust. They felt that their very existence on the land of Israel was being threatened by that attack.

So, we really are back to where both sides were some time ago in the raw expression of violence and brutality.

And why are we there? Because of what's happened over the years of the peace process that was supposed to end in a final settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. That peace process turns out to have been for naught. It turns out to have been just a bunch of hot air, a meaningless distraction from what was really happening on the ground and what was really animating Israelis and Palestinians.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres signs the Mideast peace agreement with the help of an unidentified aide on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, September 13, 1993. Looking on, left to right are Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, US President Bill Clinton, Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat and Secretary of State Warren Christopher. © Dennis Cook, AP


You asked about recognition of a Palestinian state. I could understand why some Palestinians may feel like this is a success. I think for most Palestinians, they view this as a distraction, as part of that same old pattern of symbolic politics that didn't change anything on the ground. And they're being done for reasons that have little to do with the betterment of the situation between Israelis and Palestinians. Recognition of a state that doesn't exist, that's not about to exist, that Israelis are not going to allow to come into existence, won't change the life of a single Israeli or Palestinian certainly. It's not going to make the life of any Palestinian suffering what they're suffering today in Gaza, in the West Bank, any different.

It might make some politicians feel better. It might make them look good. But it won't make them do the thing that can make a difference to stop what's happening today in Gaza, which more and more experts are calling a genocide. If Europeans and others wanted to do something that could really change the situation, there are a set of tools that they have at their disposal which wouldn't change things dramatically, but could make some difference. But rather than make a difference, they're making something that they believe makes them look good.

I think for some of them, this is an effort in good faith. And some countries are taking genuine steps – and I'm thinking of Spain in particular. Other countries are doing this for less noble reasons. For some of them, distraction is the point. It's because they're doing this in lieu of doing what could really make a difference. Hussein and I have actually written about this and we’re saying this is exactly what has been wrong with the peace process. It's symbolic politics, performative politics that doesn't have any resonance on the ground. I don't think Palestinians who are suffering what they're suffering today, are clamouring for recognition of a state that doesn't exist and is not about to be brought into existence.

One of the main points in your book is that the two-state solution was never an Israeli or a Palestinian solution. It was imposed on them by the outsider, the US.

It wasn't even imposed on them because there has been no solution. But yes, it's an idea that had external origins, an external impulse.

Right. So the fact that France has chosen to co-chair this UN initiative with Saudi Arabia, does this pave a path for the involvement of regional, Arab states?

There's an opportunity, there's more reason than ever for Arab countries to step in because of what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank every day, and because the Palestinian movement today is utterly leaderless. There is no Palestinian national movement. There is no leadership. There hasn't been for some time, but it has never been in greater evidence than today, when the Palestinian leadership is incapable of doing anything in response to what's happening to their people. So there's every reason, every opportunity for the Arab world to step in.

Whether they will, that's a different question. They have not yet. They have not taken some of the basic steps they could have taken to try to exert some of the leverage they possess vis-a-vis Israel. Those countries that have entered into the Abraham Accords have not used that as leverage to try to pressure Israel. Whether they do it in the future, that's one of the questions we raise in the book. We say that, because tomorrow is yesterday, in the past, this was an Arab-Israeli conflict, it wasn't an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the past, the Arab world was, for better or for worse, in charge of Palestinian politics if you think of the period after 1948.
Displaced Palestinians walk through a makeshift tent camp along the shore of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip Tuesday, September 16, 2025. © Jehad Alshrafi, AP


There's an echo of that period now, when the Arab world may need to step in. We don't know whether they'll be up to that task to step in and provide real succour to the Palestinians, and use the prospect of normalisation with Israel, not for bilateral benefits, for their own benefits, but also for the benefit of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause.

We're not in the business of prediction. We want to describe, in as stark and brutal a way as possible, the reality that we face and try to do away with some of the illusions that have clouded judgments and perspective and policy. But that is really up to the Arab world and its leadership and its people to do what it might take to provide real support to the Palestinian people.

So what are these basic steps that the Arab world must take?

I don't think the goal of the book is to have a menu of steps. I think those are pretty self-evident for countries that really want to help. There are things that Israel cares about. There are things that the supporters of Israel, the United States in particular, care about. I don't think these leaders are sitting in a room wondering what steps, what tools do we possess. They know what tools they possess. The question is whether they're prepared to use them because they always come with risks: risk of blowback, risk of endangering relations with the United States, of whatever it may be. If countries really want to help, the first step is to stop what's happening in Gaza. There are tools at their disposal to maybe not achieve it, but at least move in that direction and try to flex their muscles. But we'll have to see whether they're prepared to do that.

We’ll have to see about that. What would you say is the purpose of your latest book and why is it important?

The core of the book is really to try to describe where are we today and why. Where we are today is, as I said, the echoes of the past from both sides. Palestinians feel like they're going through another Nakba. Israeli Jews feel that they were victims of a pogrom and that this was the worst massacre of Jews since the Second World War. We're seeing a revival of an old vocabulary, which people of my generation and Hussein's generation are very familiar with, whether it’s ethnic cleansing, whether it's genocide, whether it's Zionism, racism, pogrom, the Holocaust … [it’s] a vocabulary, modes of thinking that are echoes of the past.

The question at the core of the book is: what was the meaning of years that were spent supposedly seeking a solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Our diagnosis is that there was a fundamental disconnect between what diplomats, the peace process led by the US, said they were trying to do, claimed they were trying to do, and what was actually the lived experience, the emotions, the feelings, the yearnings of Israelis and Palestinians. It was a dialogue of the deaf. What was being discussed was fundamentally fleeting, evanescent. And that's why so little has changed, and we’re back to yesterday, where tomorrow is yesterday. We are back to where the parties were, as if nothing really had happened at the diplomatic level, because nothing of real consequence, nothing that had real impact with the Israeli and Palestinian people occurred.
Relatives of Israeli hostages and demonstrators take part in an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, near the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, on September 16, 2025. © Ahmad Gharabli, AFP


That's our diagnosis. The question is, is this an opportunity now to shatter those myths and have some form of more unconventional thinking, to think, how are Israelis and Palestinians going to coexist. If it's not going to be this two-state solution, which has failed and failed and failed repeatedly. The hard partition between Israelis and Palestinians, if that was the objective that was stated in the past, we know for sure that it was tried for decades under far better circumstances than exists today – and it failed.

When I hear Western leaders say the only path is a two-state solution … It's not because you repeat a mantra that it's going to be achieved. And that mantra was repeated under circumstances that were much more promising than today, when you had a real Palestinian leadership with authority, when Israel was not as traumatised and as right-wing as it is today, when the settlement enterprise was a fraction of what it was today. On almost every level, the circumstances were better. And yet the outcome was the same. So, to think that today we're going to suddenly go back to that route that led to an impasse, and this time it's going to succeed, I think it's either an exercise in self-delusion, or of utter ignorance, or of deceit.

And as we say in the book, there's sometimes a very fine line between self-delusion, illusion, deceit and lie. And it's unclear in which realm we are today. But at some level we're in all of them. All of the above.

On a personal level, how do you feel now after all these years of trying to diplomatically engage on this issue?

It’s not necessarily in the book, although it is alluded to in the book. This is also a confession of personal failures.

Since the inception of the concept of the two-state solution – which Hussein at first fought, but then endorsed – up to the convalescence room, the deathbed of the two-state solution, Hussein was there in almost every chapter. I was there as a US official. And it's a failure.

Part of the book emerges from that, even though it's not in any way a personal memoir, but our own experience suffuses the book.

It's partly because of those failures, and the humility it must attach, that we’re not in the business of saying: ‘here’s the solution’. We don't know. What we do is try to shatter conventional thought, the dogmas of the past, which are still the dogmas of the present.
An Israeli soldier detains a Palestinian man during a raid on Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank on September 16, 2025. © Zain Jaafar, AFP

Whether we like it or not, the most likely alternative is a continuation, a perpetuation of the status quo. This so-called unsustainable status quo that has been sustained for decades is just being further entrenched every day. That is the most likely outcome: some form of Israeli domination of the land between the river and the sea, with differing levels of unequal rights for the Palestinians who are living in that land.

Then you have other alternatives, some better, some worse, some more ethically palatable, some ethically repellent: whether it's ethnic cleansing, whether it's some form of confederation, coexistence in a loose confederation between Israelis and Palestinians, we speak about some confederation between Palestine and Jordan, some people have spoken about a binational state.

Our objective is not to say this is either the best or the preferred outcome. We say, stop putting your head in the sand and saying there's only one solution. It's not even clear whether the people who say it believe it. But it sounds good. It makes them look good to say two-state solution, we’re heading there. We're not heading there. We're heading in the opposite direction. Let's hit the pause button and try to think of other possibilities. It will be up to Israelis and Palestinians with others, Arab countries, perhaps others as well, to try to get us on a different path. But there has to be a different path because the path that Israelis and Palestinians are on right now is a path of more death, destruction and tragedy.

Finally, are you optimistic or pessimistic on the Israeli-Palestinian issue?

I think anyone today who claims they're optimistic would be either deluded or lying. But I will say this, because I get this question a lot about optimism, pessimism.

Our view is there's real optimism and false optimism. The optimism that consists of saying we are going to get there because we believe the two-state solution is inevitable, that's not real optimism. That is actual pessimism, because we know that it's not going to lead to anywhere good. That sort of optimism is lethal. It leads to death and destruction because it creates illusions. And when those illusions are frustrated, it leads to violence.

So the optimism, if that's the word, lies in trying to recognise the failures of the past and trying to think of something different for the future. Does that mean that I think it's going to happen? I have no idea. I do think, deep down, that Israelis and Palestinians are bound to coexist and need to find a way to coexist peacefully. We have been on the wrong track now for decades upon decades.
This picture taken from a position at Israel's border with the Gaza Strip shows Israeli troops deployed near the border fence with the besieged Palestinian territory on September 17, 2025. © Jack Guez, AFP

But if Israelis want to achieve what they claim is their aspiration, their yearning, which is to live as a normal, fully accepted, fully secure people, they're going to have to find a way to address their Palestinian problem. Because as long as the Palestinian problem exists – and the Palestinian people are not going anywhere, they're not going to leave, they're not going to disappear – Israeli Jews will not find that tranquility, that security, that normalcy, that regular life that they aspire to.

By the same token, of course, Palestinians are not going to get the freedom, the fulfillment of their aspirations if they haven't found a way to come to terms with the existence of the Jewish population and their rights and their needs and their yearnings. Ultimately, we don't have the solution. But we do believe that Israelis and Palestinians are capable of finding a way to peacefully coexist. It probably won't be my generation, probably another generation, or maybe the one after that, that will find the key to that riddle.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.