The French are pushing ahead with yet another attempt to resolve the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, seeking a two-state resolution of the 68-year-old problem of the division of land between them.
The French are pushing ahead with yet another attempt to resolve the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, seeking a two-state resolution of the 68-year-old problem of the division of land between them.
Unlike previous efforts, the U.S. would not be in the middle of this one, at least at the beginning. The most recent push ended in 2014 when America gave up on negotiations. That round crashed and burned when the Palestinians refused to proceed while the Israelis continued to increase West Bank settlement.
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry see a renewal of serious negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian problem as unfinished business in Obama’s eight years in office. It is not so much a question of legacy, but more one of a major problem that they have not been able to dent. In the meantime, relations between Israelis and Palestinians have deteriorated, most recently into a series of personal attacks with knives and other weapons. The casualties have accumulated to the degree that some observers consider it part of a third intifada.
The French have for some time expressed a willingness to take on the project of relaunching negotiations, called by some the Middle East peace process. They are now organizing a conference of foreign ministers of some 30 countries, including China, India and Russia. The gathering, once set for late May, has been pushed into the early summer in an effort to accommodate Kerry’s schedule. The actual conference relaunching the negotiations would be held before the end of the year.
As of now, neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians would be at the preliminary conference. The French may feel that the state of relations between American and Israeli leadership is such that a key role for the U.S. would not be helpful. Last year’s nuclear deal with Iran and the U.N. Security Council permanent members, guided by the United States, left U.S.-Israel relations raw, as Israel strongly opposed the pact that lifted economic sanctions for a temporary termination of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
France is to be commended for trying to bring resolution to this problem, basic to long-term peace in the Mideast. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes talks; divisions among Palestinians weaken prospects for success. But, given the stakes, it is very much worthy of another try.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette