Ofer Bronchtein, the Israeli adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron on Middle East affairs and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, died Monday at the age of 69. Bronchtein was considered one of the key figures who persuaded Macron to support recognition of a Palestinian state. He will be buried in Paris.
Bronchtein’s parents’ families lived in Safed and Hebron. He was born in Beersheba and moved with his family to France at age 9, where he spent his teenage years. At 17, he returned to Israel, lived at Kibbutz Beit Keshet in the Lower Galilee and later moved to Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood, where he began his work for social justice, peace and reconciliation with Arabs and Palestinians.
In 1989, together with his colleagues, he founded the newspaper HaPatish and served as its CEO and publisher. The newspaper, which focused on social criticism, was published until 1993. Bronchtein later joined the International Center for Peace alongside Anis al-Qaq, who served as the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to Switzerland, and became the center’s director-general. In recent decades, he lived in France.
As part of his role as an adviser to the French president, Bronchtein pushed Macron to recognize a Palestinian state, a move that ultimately came to fruition in July of that year with Macron’s historic announcement on X. Over the past decade, Bronchtein suffered from a severe lung disease and used a breathing device. In the past two weeks, he had been fighting for his life.
The Élysée Palace paid tribute to Bronchtein, saying: “He was a tireless advocate for peace in the Middle East, French-Israeli in both heart and activism. With him, a humanist voice carrying the hope for peace has fallen silent. When the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7 plunged the region into chaos, he was among those who supported French recognition of a Palestinian state.”
“It was Ofer’s rare talent to know how to speak with everyone without trying to please them, and to earn trust through his honesty, personality and tireless energy despite his illness. The president of the republic and his wife honor the memory of a man who devoted every hour of his life to peace and humanism. They extend their deepest condolences to his family, loved ones and all those who shared his hopes and will continue his work.”
Former diplomat and peace activist Alon Liel, a friend of Bronchtein’s, said: “I remember Ofer from his days in the Hatikva neighborhood as a social activist, at a time when we still did not really understand what that meant. He was among the first Israelis in the 1980s and 1990s to organize meetings with Palestinian peace activists on a scale that amazed us at the time.”
According to Liel, “Even after relocating to Europe, he continued striving for Israeli-Palestinian peace. In June 2025, as President Macron’s adviser on Middle East affairs, Ofer was the driving force behind the large Israeli-Palestinian gathering in Paris that led to the French-British-Canadian recognition initiative and effectively also to Trump’s 20-point plan. During the Paris conference, one could feel the affection and trust he had earned from President Macron, French Foreign Minister Barrot and hundreds of participants.”
3 View gallery
French President Macron with Abbas during his visit to France
(Photo: Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
In September, during the U.N. General Assembly, Macron announced France’s recognition of a Palestinian state. “This is a defeat for Hamas,” he said at the time. The recognition followed a declaration Macron made two months earlier announcing his intention to do so, a move that triggered a wave of similar recognitions by Western countries including Britain, Canada and Australia.
In an interview with ynet about a year ago, Bronchtein described the developments that led to the announcement: “This was Macron’s response to annexation, and also because Israel does not respond to what is being asked of it.” Responding to claims that recognition of a Palestinian state amounted to a reward for Hamas, he said: “On October 6, there was no Palestinian state. Did that prevent Hamas from carrying out the terrible massacre? What has failed until now is the non-recognition of a Palestinian state. We are proposing a change of perspective, and in doing so helping Israel.”