by Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon, Daniel Siryoti, Yoni Hersch, Mati Tuchfeld, Gideon Allon, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies
French FM Laurent Fabius: France will recognize a Palestinian state if efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at international conference fail • Israeli official: It is not possible to conduct negotiations or achieve peace in such a manner.
French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius
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Photo credit: AP  |
France will recognize a Palestinian state if
its efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at an
international conference fail, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius
said Friday.
Fabius told French diplomats that the
conference will aim to bring together the two parties and their
American, European and Arab partners in order "to make happen a
two-state solution."
If this attempt faces a deadlock, Fabuis said, France will have to recognize a Palestinian state.
France's Socialist government supports the
idea of two states, but had previously argued that it was too early for
outright recognition of a Palestinian state.
An Israeli diplomatic official called Fabius' initiative "harmful," saying it "bolstered Palestinian rejectionism."
"Fabius' statement provides an incentive for
the Palestinians to reach an impasse," the official said. "It is not
possible to conduct negotiations or to achieve peace in such a manner.
It is the wrong approach. Why should the Palestinians give up on even a
comma at the conference if they know ahead of time that even if there is
no progress they will get what they want. Would France take part in an
international conference with the Islamic State group which is
conducting terrorism in France?"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Abu
Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] says it's all or
nothing. What he is really saying is it's everything, not nothing. When
there are initiatives that support him, they push negotiations farther
away, which is the opposite of [their intention]."
Regarding the conference itself, an Israeli
government official said on Saturday night, "If and when we get an
invitation to a conference, we will examine it and respond to it."
A U.S. government official responded cautiously to Fabius' statement.
"The U.S. position on this issue has been
clear," the official said, "We continue to believe that the preferred
path to resolve this conflict is for the parties to reach an agreement
on final status issues directly."
The Palestinian Authority praised Fabius, with
Abbas saying, "All initiatives to end the Israeli occupation and every
recognition of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital
will contribute to establishing peace and stability in the region."
Hamas, on the other hand, rejected the French
initiative, saying it was meant to "suppress the third intifada" and
cause a rift among the Palestinian people.
Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon, Daniel Siryoti, Yoni Hersch, Mati Tuchfeld, Gideon Allon, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=31465
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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