{"id":1137,"date":"2017-06-19T14:18:09","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T14:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/new\/?p=1137"},"modified":"2017-07-14T08:40:03","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T08:40:03","slug":"israel-rejects-french-threat-to-recognize-state-of-palestine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/19\/israel-rejects-french-threat-to-recognize-state-of-palestine\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Rejects French Threat to Recognize \u2018State of Palestine\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel said it refuses to negotiate under ultimatum\u00a0in response to France\u2019s threat, despite the wave of Palestinian terror, to recognize the \u201cstate of Palestine.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

France\u00a0will recognize a Palestinian state if its efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at an international conference fail, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Friday.<\/p>\n

He told French diplomats that the conference will aim to bring together the two parties and their American, European and Arab partners in order \u201cto make happen a two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

If this attempt faces a deadlock, Fabius said,\u00a0France\u00a0will have to recognize a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\u201cThis is not how one conducts negotiations and not how one makes peace,\u201d the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office stated, Ha\u2019aretz<\/em>\u00a0reported. Many in government circles\u00a0say this latest ultimatum to Israel encourages the Palestinian Authority (PA) to be unbending in its demands, according to unnamed\u00a0sources.<\/p>\n

The French threat to Israel was made amidst a wave of Palestinian terror<\/a> against Jews in Israel, in which 29 victims have been killed and close to 300 wounded \u2013 25 seriously.<\/p>\n

\n

\"baby<\/p>\n

18-month-old Yotam Sitbon lost his leg when a Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into pedestrians in Jerusalem in December. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly invited PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to resume negotiations, but to no avail.\u00a0Instead, he has been making unilateral moves to force a solution upon Israel, and his government has been inciting terror<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fabius\u2019 announcement comes as the Palestinians, buoyed by the Iran nuclear deal\u00a0and the start of U.N.-mediated talks on Syria, have been exploring steps that could lead to a two-state solution without direct negotiations, including an international conference and a Security Council resolution that would demand an end to construction of homes in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria<\/a>, or what they call \u201cillegal Israeli settlement building.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael will not negotiate under threat,\u201d Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz stated on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told AP<\/em>: \u201cThe Palestinian leadership does welcome the announcement of foreign minister Fabius today in Paris in connection with the convening of an international conference in the next few weeks, and if things fail the recognition of the state of\u00a0Palestine\u00a0by\u00a0France.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the objective of this conference \u2026 has to be to open the process that would lead to the end of the occupation and the preservation of the two-state solution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

\"fabius<\/p>\n

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (L) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at PM\u2019s residence in Jerusalem in August. (Marc Israel Sellem\/GPO\/Flash90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As for recognition, Mansour said, \u201cFrance\u00a0promised us some time ago that if there is no opening for a meaningful political process \u2014 a collective process that would lead to the end of occupation and independence of the state of\u00a0Palestine\u00a0and therefore saving the two-state solution soon \u2014 then they will recognize the state of\u00a0Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the Palestinians wanted recognition from\u00a0France\u00a0\u201csome time ago,\u201d noting that the French parliament has unanimously recommended recognizing the \u201cstate of\u00a0Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we hope that they do that,\u201d Mansour said. \u201cIf they are tying it to the political process, that is their thinking. But eventually if you believe in a two-state solution, then recognizing the state of\u00a0Palestine\u00a0is an investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday, at U.N. headquarters in New York, Mansour said the nuclear talks on Iran and talks on Syria, Yemen and Libya have spurred the Palestinians to seek a broader international framework to try to settle the decades-old conflict with Israel. \u201cThis is a new culture \u2014 and why shouldn\u2019t that spread to the Palestinian issue?,\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Mansour said the Palestinians don\u2019t accept that in 2016 \u201cthe door is closed\u201d and that nothing can be done to make progress toward a two-state solution because of the U.S. presidential election in November.<\/p>\n

He said that\u2019s why he has been engaging all 15 members of the Security Council, including the United States, as well as the U.N. Secretariat and other \u201cfriends,\u201d on their readiness to take steps \u2014 especially since virtually all members at the last Mideast meeting spoke out against Israeli settlement building.<\/p>\n

Mansour commended Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon \u201cfor characterizing correctly the settlements as illegal, illegitimate and a major obstacle to peace.\u201d Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Ban\u2019s remarks justify terrorism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Funeral<\/p>\n

Relatives and wife of Aharon Yesiab, 32, one of two Israelis killed recently in a terror attack in Tel Aviv, at the funeral. (Gili Yaari\/Flash90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAs oppressed peoples have demonstrated throughout the ages, it is human nature to react to \u2018occupation,\u2019\u201d the UN\u00a0chief said, thereby placing the blame for Palestinian terror on Israeli policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UN Secretary General\u2019s remarks give a tailwind to terrorism,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in response. \u201cThere is no justification for terrorism. The Palestinian murderers do not want to build a state \u2013 they want to destroy a state and they say this openly. They want to murder Jews simply because they are Jews, and they say this openly. They do not murder for peace and they do not murder for human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides a new resolution on settlements and an international conference, Mansour said he has raised the French idea of \u201ca support group\u201d of other countries to promote progress toward peace, an expansion of the Quartet of Mideast mediators<\/a> \u2014 the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia.<\/p>\n

He said adoption of a Security Council resolution would be \u201ca signal\u201d that the council and key world powers want to end the conflict and see an independent Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

By: AP and United with Israel Staff<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel said it refuses to negotiate under ultimatum\u00a0in response to France\u2019s threat, despite the wave of Palestinian terror, to recognize the \u201cstate of Palestine.\u201d France\u00a0will recognize a Palestinian state if its efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at an international conference fail, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Friday. He told French diplomats that the conference<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1137"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5349,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1137\/revisions\/5349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}