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Kerry to attend Paris meeting over restarting Israel-Palestinian peace talks
US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed yesterday that he will attend a planning meeting in Paris, as part of a French initiative to reignite peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Earlier this year, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault’s predecessor Laurent Fabius announced France’s intention to host an international conference with the goal of agreeing the implementation of a two-state solution. An initial preparatory meeting of ministers from interested countries, but excluding Israeli and Palestinian representatives, was scheduled to take place later this month. However, this did not fit with Kerry’s schedule. With Ayrault announcing yesterday that the meeting would now take place on 3 June, Kerry confirmed his attendance.
Following a meeting with Ayrault on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels, Kerry said: “I told him [Ayrault] that I would be there.” Kerry’s confirmation is expected to be followed by news that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will also attend the meeting.
Stopping short of a wholehearted endorsement of the French initiative, Kerry added: “I will work with the French, I will work with the Egyptians, I will work with the Arab community in good faith in an effort to see if we can find a way to help the parties see their way to come back.”
Earlier this week, Kerry met with Egypt’s President al-Sisi in Cairo, in support of al-Sisi’s call for progress to be made in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
Last week, Ayrault met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, to discuss the French peace initiative. However, Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s position that “the only way to advance a true peace between us and the Palestinians is by means of direct negotiations between us and them, without preconditions”.
He added: “any other attempt only makes peace more remote and gives the Palestinians an escape hatch.”
Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed his willingness to meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas at any point without preconditions.