According to the Times of India reports, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected French peace initiative, telling the
visiting French prime minister that peace cannot be forged through
international conferences but only through direct negotiations.
“It doesn’t
get to fruition through international diktats or committees … seeking to decide
our fate and our security when they have no direct stake in it.”
Paris plans
to hold ministerial-level talks on June 3 as a first step in reviving
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which came to a halt in April 2014.
The talks would initially
exclude Israel and Palestinian authorities but would bring together
representatives of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European
Union, as well as representatives from Arab and European nations.
The French hope that
beginning with non-direct talks could lay the groundwork for an agreement later
between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Palestinians have
welcomed the French effort, but Israel has rejected it out of concern the
country will be faced with foreign dictates.
Instead, the Israeli leader
proposed sitting down for direct talks in Paris with Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas.
“I will sit alone directly
with President Abbas in the Elysee Palace, or anywhere else that you choose,”
Netanyahu said.
Speaking to broadcaster
i24news, Valls said direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians had
failed.
“The role of world powers
is to ensure a regulated dialogue,” Valls said in Tel Aviv.
The French premier is
expected to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in Ramallah on
Tuesday.
Earlier this year, France’s
former foreign minister Laurent Fabius said France would recognise a
Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem if the
conference and efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks fail.
No comments:
Post a Comment