(JNS) French President Emmanuel Macron officially announced last week that France intends to recognize the state of “Palestine.” He might as well have announced that France officially recognized the People’s Democratic Republic of Oz.

Both are fictional places living only in the imagination. The big difference between the two is that at the end of “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy awakens from a bad dream after being hit on the head and returns to the reality of Kansas.

In contrast, Macron thinks that he is the wizard.

“Consistent with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the state of Palestine. … We must also ensure the demilitarization of Hamas, secure and rebuild Gaza,” Macron wrote on X. “And finally, we must build the state of Palestine, guarantee its viability and ensure that by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, it contributes to the security of all in the Middle East. There is no alternative.”

Apparently, in Macron’s world, monkeys can fly.

As part of his fanciful announcement to the Emerald City, better known as the United Nations, Macron sent a letter to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to inform him of the French president’s great and powerful decision. Abbas’s deputy, Hussein al-Sheikh, responded, “This position reflects France’s commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state.”

One can debate whether the 89-year-old Abbas, who is in the 19th year of his four-year term, is in search of a brain, heart and/or courage. No one, however, can claim that he does not have a sense of humor or irony. Where was his brain, heart and courage in 2008 when President George W. Bush persuaded Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to agree to a two-state solution? Abbas said “no” because it required him to accept the existence of a Jewish State of Israel within internationally recognized and secure borders. Indeed, he still has not given up on his dream of pushing out the Jews from the river to the sea.

Perhaps Abbas has had a change of heart. Perhaps there is a heretofore unknown poppy field somewhere in the Middle East that he is now willing to accept as the territory of the Palestinian state.

The primary problem for Abbas is that the Palestinians threw water on him long ago. He is simply a terrorist running a kleptocracy with no legitimacy among his people. An errant broomstick is more popular than he is.

Complicating matters for Macron is that no relevant actors are paying any attention to the man behind the curtain. The two most important players in any Middle East discussion are Israel and the United States. Both have announced they will not participate in Macron’s balloon fair.

Saudi Arabia, however, may be a horse of a different color.

Upon hearing Macron’s pronouncement, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, issued a statement: “For the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, normalization with Israel can only come through the establishment of a Palestinian state. That position remains the same, and it is based on a strong conviction that only through the establishment of a Palestinian state and only through addressing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination can we have sustainable peace and real integration in the region.”

What is most interesting about the statement is the ambiguity surrounding the timing of the establishment of this Palestinian state. Must it be created before Saudi normalization with Israel, or is it sufficient that “the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination” are recognized for the Saudis to normalize relations with the Jewish State of Israel?

The answer to that will determine whether the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman lives in Oz or Kansas. Given the prince’s record of dealing with hard realities, I suspect he has both feet firmly planted on a Kansas pig farm.

In short, Macron’s announcement is no “twista.” It is more like a summer breeze on a farmhouse porch. It may feel good as it blows by, but it will not change anything other than ring a few wind chimes.

While Macron’s announcement may send Israel’s enemies over the rainbow with glee, the creation of a Palestinian state is, in reality, a yellow brick road to hell.

The bottom line on Macron’s announcement is that it fails to take into account that Israel has no intention of ever allowing another Oct. 7 to occur. For the Jewish people, there is no place like home.