France has presented Israel and the Palestinians with a proposal for an international peace conference.
The French ambassador to Israel, Patrick Maisonnave, in a meeting on Feb. 16 with the head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic office, Alon Ushpiz, disclosed details of the initiative to bring the two sides together for a conference that would include officials from the United States, Europe and the Arab countries.
The summit would be held in the summer, according to the proposal, and would launch new negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
U.S.-brokered negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the last diplomatic process to try to solve the conflict, broke down in April 2014.
French diplomats said the Palestinian response to the French initiative was very positive, according to Haaretz. But on Feb. 15 while visiting Japan, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said at a news conference that the Palestinians would “never again” hold direct talks with Israel. — jta