Two-thirds of Americans want ceasefire

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has written to all his department's employees to show that he is listening, and reminded them that he had personally asked Israel to spare civilian lives. But Washington has so far refused to call for a ceasefire, preferring talk of "humanitarian pauses."

The administration's position is less and less comprehended by the public. A new poll shows that more than two-thirds of Americans want a ceasefire. The proportion of respondents who believe that the United States should support Israel has fallen from 41% at the start of the crisis to 32% this week.

Studies show that there is a generational break at play: younger people, including young Jews, are more sensitive to the Palestinian cause; they see in it an extension of the themes that have occupied American campuses for years, such as Black Lives Matter, or the de-colonization debate. With less than a year to go before the U.S. presidential election, there is rising concern that Biden's Democrat party may be taking the wrong track.

Dissent in Paris

In France, dissent is not on the same scale, though as daily Le Figaro reported this week, a dozen former French ambassadors to Middle Eastern countries wrote a letter to express regret at what they see as Paris' initial alignment with Israeli policy. In their view, this stance fails to take into account the full complexity of the region — and above all breaks with the French position, which traditionally finds a more healthy middle ground between Israelis and Palestinians.

The conflict is creating new fault lines.

These former ambassadors reflect a growing discomfort within the Quai d'Orsay foreign ministry. When President Emmanuel Macron, during his recent visit to Israel, floated the idea of an anti-Hamas coalition, his government had not been informed, and the initiative eventually flopped.

Since then, Macron has rebalanced his position by supporting a ceasefire and criticizing the fate of civilians under the bombs in Gaza. He has just sent the French Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, to the Middle East to explain the French position.

In both Paris and Washington, it is clear that this brutal conflict, which has taken everyone by surprise, is creating new fault lines. Governments are wise not to ignore them.