Valls’s visit comes at a time of political turbulence in Israel, with Netanyahu expected to soon finalise negotiations with the party of hardliner Avigdor Lieberman to join his coalition.
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Another conference would then be held in the autumn, with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance.
Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a complete standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
“I want it to be clear that an expanded government will continue to aspire to a political process with the Palestinians and will do it with help from parts of the region”, Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Under the deal, Lieberman is expected to take over the key role of defence minister, further tilting to the right what is already one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history.
“The objective is to arrive at the creation of a Palestinian state”, Valls said in the interview.
“The Palestinians will have the possibility to build a state of their own, but this state must be demilitarized and recognize Israel as the Jewish state”, he told parliament. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is in Israel and the Palestinian territories through Tuesday to promote both that plan and continued economic ties with both governments.
The Palestinian Arabic dailies focused on Sunday on remarks made by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who said that the current governing coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is exhibiting signs of fascism”.
Netanyahu has criticised the initiative and called for direct negotiations between the two sides.
The global community considers the settlements illegal and regards their persistent expansion by successive Netanyahu governments as one of the biggest obstacles to peace. Israel and the Palestinians have not been invited. “It doesn’t get to fruition through global dictates, committees from countries around the world who are sitting, seeking to decide our fate and our security when they have no direct stake”.
Netanyahu said he would be willing to accept a French initiative that brought him and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together in a room alone to discuss the conflict’s most intractable issues. But he gave no details on what these steps might be.
Netanyahu had earlier engaged in negotiations with Labour party leader Isaac Herzog to join the government before turning to Lieberman instead.
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“I am sorry that you are the one who slammed the door”. In politics, a lot of things get said.
