“I know that Netanyahu does not agree (to the French proposal)”, Ayrault told reporters after his talks with the Israeli leader in Jerusalem and a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank.
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The summit is set to be the run-up to an worldwide peace conference to be held in the French capital this summer that would include Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
“We remain concerned about the continued violence on the ground and we welcome all ideas on moving this forward”, American spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said.”On this specific conference, on the May 30 event, no decision’s been made on participation”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) shakes hands with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on May 15, 2016 during a meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem.
“This initiative is necessary because if nothing happens, if there is no strong French initiative, then colonisation, attacks, terrorist attacks and several conflicts are going to continue”, he added.
“I believe that both the Israelis and the Palestinians are in need for peace and security, and in case both have the desire, I think both of use can make peace as immediate as possible”, Abbas told the Israelis, adding that “the Palestinians are the last people on earth who still live under the Israeli occupation”. He said the level of animosity between Egypt and Israel that had existed prior to the conclusion of the landmark accord was no different from how the Palestinians and Israelis feel now.
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was willing to engage with Arab states to advance a peace deal with the Palestinians. “He has one option, which is direct negotiations”.
The Palestinian Authority has expressed hope for the initiative, and in April shelved the submission of a new anti-settlement resolution to the United Nations out of fear that doing so could thwart progress of new French proposals.
France is rightly describing its peace move as a first step towards defusing the “powder-keg” threatening to explode in the Middle-East with Israel persisting with its repressive and expansionist policies. European Union members, Russia, and Japan have also been included, Haaretz reported.
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“We are on a slippery slope to an ugly, one-state reality”, said Yossi Alpher, analyst and author of “No End of Conflict; Rethinking Israel-Palestine”.
