Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed rejection of a French peace initiative, telling the visiting French prime minister that peace can not be forged through global conferences but only through direct negotiations.
Advertisement
“Netanyahu welcomed the French Prime Minister, recalling the terror attacks previous year in Paris, notably in the Hyper Cacher supermarket, where four Jews were killed, Hy” d.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (R) meets with visiting French Prime Minister Manuel Valls in the west Bank city of Ramallah, on May 24, 2016.
The first conference aims at restating peace indicators, providing global political support in order to bring the Palestinian-Israeli file to the negotiating table, and paving way for the second conference that Paris urges with the attendance of presidents and prime ministers of different countries and the two involved parties in order to keep up with talks and facilitate reaching compromises regarding thorny issues.
Valls said he would speak with President Francois Hollande about the proposal.
Instead, Netanyahu said, he would be willing to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “in Paris or wherever”, and hold face-to-face negotiations without worldwide mediation.
Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians, along with much of the global community, have accused Netanyahu of undermining peace talks by continued settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem – captured territories where they hope to establish an independent state. The goal would be to eventually restart negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state.
In response, Valls said simply that France is in favor of anything which “contributes to peace and resumption of talks”.
Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the recent unrest.
A Valls aide said the only new element in Netanyahu’s comments was his mention of talks in Paris.
“So in this spirit, I welcome you and I also want to express my appreciation for your statement saying that France’s UNESCO vote was a mistake, that France recognizes the Jewish people’s historic connection to the land of Israel”.
“We of course support meaningful negotiations and we continue to believe that this conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations between the parties”, the official told The Jerusalem Post, while adding: “We do not believe in negotiations just for the sake of negotiations”.
This plan aims at relaunching a new dynamic, which targets ending the Palestinian- Israeli conflict through a political solution.
Later in the fall, an worldwide peace conference is expected to take place with the attendance of Israeli and Palestinians, with the eventual aim of restarting peace talks between both parties. Netanyahu’s Cabinet is dominated by West Bank settlers or religious and nationalist ideologues who oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Advertisement
“Peace just does not get achieved through global conferences, UN-style”. I will clear my calendar, and I hope that this is taken up by you and by the Palestinians.
