Paris will recognize the Palestinian state if France fails to break a deadlock between the Israelis and Palestinians in the coming weeks, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has announced. “If this attempt to achieve a negotiated solution reaches a dead end, we will take responsibility and recognize the Palestinian state,” Fabius said Friday. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, France has a duty to maintain efforts to find a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, he explained during a media-conference in Paris.
“France will engage in the coming weeks in the preparation of an international conference bringing together the parties and their main partners, American, European, Arab, notably to preserve and make happen the solution of two states,” the French FM is cited as saying by Reuters. Fabius expressed hope that the international peace summit will be attended by Israelis and Palestinians, who haven’t been talking since 2014, as well as other key international players, including the US, EU states and Arab nations. FULL REPORT
