Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Jerusalem Sunday that the only way to proceed toward peace between Israel and Palestine was through direct negotiations without any preconditions.
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An worldwide gathering, planned for May 30 in Paris, is set to include the Middle East Quartet (the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations), the Arab League, the U.N. Security Council and about 20 countries, without Israeli or Palestinian participation. Israel and the Palestine have not been invited.
Abu Rdineh also said that French FM Ayrault briefed President Abbas on the results of his earlier meeting held in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Our experience with history shows that only this way did we achieve peace with Egypt and Jordan, and that any other attempt only makes peace more remote and gives the Palestinians an escape hatch to avoid confronting the root of the conflict, which is non-recognition of the State of Israel”, he said. Neither Israel not the Palestinian National Authority will attend the meeting that will discuss the French peace initiative.
Netanyahu added that Ayrault had described French support for the motion as a “misunderstanding”. They will have to hold direct negotiations, but, because things are stuck, they need external involvement.
Clashes erupted on the Gaza Strip border between Palestinians and Israeli forces, and the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups called for uprisings against Israel.
Citing unidentified sources in Ayrualt’s entourage, Agence France-Presse reported that the Paris peace talks were not meant to bypass direct talks between the two sides, which France believes is the only way to resolve the conflict.
“We’ve made it clear that the May 30 date originally proposed by the French would not work for the secretary and for his schedule”, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
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Sources close to Ayrault said the French “regretted” the UNESCO resolution and reportedly said that it should have been avoided. Kirby acknowledged for the first time that contacts have been underway between the United States and the French over whether the foreign ministers might meet on another date, enabling Kerry to attend.
