Paris international conference to revive the Palestinian-Israeli settlement process kicked off in Paris on Sunday with the participation of foreign ministers and representatives from 70 countries with the absence of representatives of both of the concerned parties.
According to the French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault the two-state solution is the only solution to solve the Middle East crisis and added that the international community should bear the responsibility of bringing the Palestinian and the Israeli parties back at the negotiation table.
The conference aims at convincing the international community of adopting the two-state solution push the Palestinian and the Israeli parties back to the negotiation table and developing a practical plan for the future Ayrault pointed out.
This conference is being held under the shadows of doubt regarding the policies to be pursued by the United States president-elect Donald Trump after a he assumes his post with the next few days.
By organizing such a huge conference the French diplomacy has achieved a remarkable achievement Al Jazeera said but added that it would not result in a magic solution for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The American stand at the UN which did not veto the Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories had facilitated the conference’s final draft which was amended five times during the past few days according to diplomatic sources.
The draft urged the Palestinians and Israel to re-affirm their commitment to the two-state solution and warned them of taking unilateral decisions.
For his part Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel kept criticizing the conference and described it as useless.
Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that the conference which is being held in Paris is useless since it was coordinated by the French and the Palestinians to impose conditions that are not compatible to Israel’s national needs.
Netanyahu pointed out that the conference hinders the peace process because it pushes the Palestinians away from direct negotiations with no preconditions.
“This conference is an example for the people of yesterday. Tomorrow is soon and different” Netanyahu added while refereeing to the policies of Donald Trump.
Netanyahu has already renounced the conference as a deceptive Palestinian move with French patronage.
For his part the central committee member of the Palestinian Fatah Movement Mohammad Shtayyeh said that the success of the conference depends on forming a follow up committee and agreeing on a time frame to on ending the occupation.
He also called on France to recognize the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders so as to serve as a model for other European countries.
