France will host an international meeting in Paris tomorrow in a bid to revive the moribund Israel-Palestinian peace process, even though its efforts have received a lukewarm response.
After decades of failed negotiations and gridlocked talks, France launched a fresh push to resolve one of the world’s longest-running conflicts earlier this year.
Neither Israel nor the Palestinians will be represented at tomorrow’s talks, which aim to lay the ground for a fully-fledged peace conference to be held by the end of the year.
But Washington - the traditional mediator - has been hesitant to get behind the new initiative, with Secretary of State John Kerry stalling for weeks before finally agreeing to attend.
The conference will nonetheless bring together foreign ministers from some 30 Western and Arab countries, as well as representatives of the United Nations and European Union.
“We must bring back hope, recreate an international atmosphere that is favourable to a (peace) process,” says French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
The last, US-led peace effort collapsed in April 2014 and Ayrault has warned of a “catastrophic” situation if there is no resumption of talks.
While attention has shifted to unrest in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, there has been a surge of violence since October that has claimed the lives of 205 Palestinians and 28 Israelis.
Many analysts say the recent unrest has been fuelled by Palestinian frustration with Israel’s ongoing settlement building and by the repeated failure of peace efforts to end the occupation.
According to French diplomatic sources, the fresh peace push would centre on the 2002 Saudi peace initiative.
Under that proposal, Arab leaders said they would recognise Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from territories occupied since 1967, and the creation of a Palestinian state.
The proposal was largely ignored by Israel.
But the French peace plan faces multiple obstacles, with the two sides trading blame even before the proposed talks get off the ground.
Israel, as is expected, is fiercely opposed to the initiative, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responding by simply repeating his long-standing but so far fruitless offer to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for direct talks.
The Palestinians, who are in favour of the French plan, have accused Israel of stalling.
The UN’s special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process yesterday accused a key ally of Prime Minister Netanyahu of “killing hope” for a settlement.
Nickolay Mladenov spoke after a minister from the Jewish Home party, which holds several portfolios in Netanyahu’s rightwing government, declared the party would never support a two-state solution.
“The determination of some ministers in Israel to block progress and kill hope by promoting illegal settlements and rejecting a Palestinian state is concerning,” he said.