French Foreign Minister Tries to Restart Israeli-Palestinian Talks

At a news conference in Jerusalem, visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius laid out a three-pronged plan for restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Fabius, who also visited Egypt, Jordan, and Ramallah said that France does not want to replace the role of the US in the Middle East but to work together. France’s three-point plan calls for a return to negotiations, an international committee to help mediate problems as they arise and a UN Security Council Resolution about the process. It is this last point that most concerns Israeli officials as they worry that that resolution will call for a complete withdrawal from all of the areas that Israel acquired in 1967—the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. In the past, the US has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions that criticized Israel, but Israeli officials worry that against the background of tensions between the US and Israel, the US could abstain this time. France has been discussing the text of the resolution with both Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said that he welcomes Fabius’ proposals and that the Palestinian Authority will do what they can to make it work. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was far less sanguine however, saying that “the only way to reach an agreement is through bilateral negotiations, and we will forcibly reject any attempts to force upon us international dictates.”