Paris: France on Tuesday tried to overcome resistance and rally international support for a draft UN plan setting a two-year deadline for peace talks on Palestinian statehood.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met in Paris with the secretary-general of the Arab League, Egyptian and Palestinian ministers, and former Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Fabius is seeking support for a draft U.N. resolution that the French hope would be a catalyst for peace talks. The French, seeking a higher-profile role in Middle East diplomacy, see their draft as more palatable than a Jordanian-backed resolution also under discussion.
There's growing pressure from European legislators to recognize a Palestinian state amid frustration over decades of failed peace efforts. But European countries are divided over the idea of setting a 2016 deadline, with Germany particularly reluctant, diplomats said.
Peres argued for holding negotiations before imposing any timetable, and said now is not a good time to make any major moves because Israel is facing a political transition after upcoming elections.
"There is a need and a time for a Palestinian state," he told reporters in Paris. "I think it would be better to reach it through an agreement than through an imposition."
Fabius said "it's high time" to get peace talks going again.
He discussed the draft Monday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The French know that the Americans are opposed to the draft resolution as it stands, but are hoping to work out a version that the Americans could support, French diplomats said.
France, facing a rise in anti-Semitism, also has domestic reasons to push for progress. Mideast violence often translates into protests and other unrest in France, home to western Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish populations.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met in Paris with the secretary-general of the Arab League, Egyptian and Palestinian ministers, and former Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Fabius is seeking support for a draft U.N. resolution that the French hope would be a catalyst for peace talks. The French, seeking a higher-profile role in Middle East diplomacy, see their draft as more palatable than a Jordanian-backed resolution also under discussion.
Peres argued for holding negotiations before imposing any timetable, and said now is not a good time to make any major moves because Israel is facing a political transition after upcoming elections.
"There is a need and a time for a Palestinian state," he told reporters in Paris. "I think it would be better to reach it through an agreement than through an imposition."
Advertisement
He discussed the draft Monday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Advertisement
France, facing a rise in anti-Semitism, also has domestic reasons to push for progress. Mideast violence often translates into protests and other unrest in France, home to western Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish populations.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Watch: Drone Whizzes Across Skyline In Israel, Hits Building Near US Embassy "Aerial Explosion" Near US Embassy In Tel Aviv Kills 1, Injures 2 Netanyahu Vows To Keep Control Of Rafah Crossing Even After Ceasefire Deal Windows Computers Lead To 'Blue Screen Of Death' Due To CrowdStrike Error In 1st Statement After Outage, CrowdStrike CEO Says... Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down Woman Says Jindal Group Executive Groped Her On Flight, Naveen Jindal Reacts How World Scrambled To Deal With One Of The Biggest IT Crashes: 10 Points Fighting And Kisses: 5 Big Takeaways From Trump's Speech Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.