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Middle East peace talks to begin in Paris – without Israel or Palestinians Israelis and Palestinians absent from Middle East talks in Paris
(about 1 hour later)
US, European and Arab diplomats are meeting in Paris for a French-led effort to revive the Middle East peace process, though neither Israel nor the Palestinians are taking part. Senior diplomats attending a summit in France are aiming to organise a peace conference by the end of the year to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
France persuaded the US secretary of state, John Kerry, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and foreign ministers and officials from nearly 30 other countries and international organisations to join the meeting to try to prevent an escalation of violence. However, Israeli and Palestinian representatives are absent, making the chances of success slim. French diplomats said they felt compelled to act as the opportunity to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel was slipping away, with the situation in the region deteriorating.
Participants in the meetings on Friday are expected to work out the details of the conference and set up teams that would spell out economic and security incentives for Israelis and Palestinians if they reach a deal.
Related: Israeli prime minister rejects French peace conference initiativeRelated: Israeli prime minister rejects French peace conference initiative
The French hope Friday’s meeting could lead to direct talks. “We cannot substitute for the parties. Our initiative aims at giving them guarantees that the peace will be solid, sustainable and under international supervision,” the French president, François Hollande, told the gathering.
The French president, François Hollande, who will open the conference, said on Thursday that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in a “dangerous deadlock”. The meeting will allow participants to “reaffirm their commitment to the two-state solution and their determination to create the conditions for resumption of direct talks,” he said. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, attended, along with representatives from the Arab League, the European Union and key Arab states.
Kerry and Ban will be joined by representatives from the European Union, the Arab League and key countries in the region such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has rebuffed the French initiative, saying a deal can only be reached in direct negotiations.
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has publicly rejected the idea of an international conference, saying the longstanding conflict can be resolved only through direct negotiations. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed France’s efforts, in part because it could potentially end a two-decade US monopoly on mediation. Palestinians have long complained that the US heavily favours Israel and cannot act as an honest broker.
The Palestinian prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, welcomed the French initiative. The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in 1967. In 2012, the UN general assembly overwhelmingly recognised a state of Palestine within such boundaries, though setting up an actual state would require a deal with Israel.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, told Le Monde newspaper that he hoped for two outcomes from Friday’s conference. First, the prospect of another peace conference that would include the Israelis and the Palestinians by the end of the year. Unlike his predecessors, Netanyahu has refused to recognise the pre-1967 lines as a starting point for border talks, with land swaps the internationally backed formula for securing a peace deal.
Second, the creation of working groups to prepare for potential direct talks. One would focus on economic incentives, another on security guarantees that could help convince the two parties to return to the negotiation table. Abbas said there was no point going back to talks without ground rules and a timeline for a deal.
The core issues of the conflict will not be discussed during Friday’s conference. Continued Israeli settlement expansion on occupied lands and several months of renewed Israeli-Palestinian violence have also undermined trust.
France hopes to start a “pragmatic” process in the hope of making “step by step” progress, a French diplomat said, praising the “modest approach”. Related: Gaza fence jumpers looking for work find prison instead – but keep trying anyway
Another French diplomat added: “We know the path is difficult, the goal will be hard to reach. But we considered it’s worth trying.” The last high-level Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were held in 2008, between Abbas and then prime minister, Ehud Olmert. Subsequent efforts to restart meaningful talks have failed, most recently in 2014 when Kerry aborted a mediation mission following a year of low-level Israeli-Palestinian meetings.
Both officials were speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to disclose the content of talks ahead of the conference. Abbas aides have said they want other world powers to get involved, as happened in last year’s deal on Iran’s nuclear programme. The existing model of Israeli-Palestinian talks brokered by the US has failed because of the power gap that exists between an occupying power and those it occupies, they have said.
The most recent round of talks broke down two years ago. The Palestinians, with much of the international community, have accused Netanyahu of undermining peace talks by continued settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem – territories where they hope to establish an independent state. Dore Gold, the director general of Israel’s foreign ministry, predicted on Thursday that the Paris conference would “completely fail” and that the only way to make peace was through direct talks.
Israel has indicated an openness recently to some elements of an Arab peace proposal from 2002, which promised peace and recognition of Israel by the Arab and Muslim world in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state. Gold gave no indication of any movement on that proposal.