Itongadol.-After meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was in Jerusalem on Sunday evening for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At a press conference in the capital on Sunday, Fabius said that after a string of meetings with regional leaders, which he said were "very friendly," the foreign minister concluded that there was a willingness to return to direct negotiations.
"I found the same sense of worry on both sides," he said after meetings in Ramallah and Jerusalem. "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an important issue for regional peace and security. It is important not only for the parties involved, but for the entire region."
France will not give up and will continue to chase peace, Fabius said.
Without a solution, Fabius said at the iconic King David Hotel, "tensions in the Middle East will flare, and there is real danger of an explosion."
France wants to help try and find a solution, he added, but it will not "replace the parties at the negotiation table. There is no substitution for direct talks."
"The first thing is to bring the sides back to the table. It is crucial that they talk directly," he said. "I have seen on both sides a willingness to return to talks."
Even if it is difficult, both Abbas and Netanyahu have said they want to return to negotiations, he said.
During Fabius\’ meeting with Netanyahu, the Israeli premier said France was Israel\’s closest ally in the years following the creation of the Jewish State. "We will never forget the vital support you gave us during those difficult times," Netanyahu told the foreign minister in the capital.
"I believe France has an important role today as well," he continued. "We urge the country to stand beside us to prevent a bad deal with Iran that will pave the way for attaining nuclear weapons."
Six years ago, Netanyahu said, I laid out my vision for peace at Bar Ilan University based on two states for two peoples – with a demilitarized Palestinian state that acknowledges the Jewish state. "Though I am not demanding any conditions to start talks, I know that the two pillars for lasting peace are recognition and security.
"Frankly, it is unbelievable that while the Palestinians expect us to recognize their state, they refuse to give us that same right," he said in the meeting. "And if they refuse to acknowledge a Jewish state for the Jewish people, what kind of peace are they really offering?
Netanyahu said that the need for security was obvious to anyone following regional developments. "The Middle East is going through unprecedented changes of instability and violence," he said. "Centuries-old countries are crumbling before our eyes; Muslim extremists are rushing in to fill power vacuums; and Islamic State is leading Sunni extremists while Iran leads Shi\’ite extremists." Meanwhile, Israel is dealing with terror armies on all its borders, he said.
The premier ruled out peace that does not include concrete security agreements – those that will enable Israel to defend itself" saying that such peace "will not last nor will Israel agree to it." Our fears are not justifications or mere excuses. They are real concerns, said Netanyahu. "A peace agreement that denies this reality will flutter away in the winds of extremism and violence that are blowing through the Middle East."
Peace will only come as a result of direct negotiations between both sides without pre-conditions," Netanyhau concluded.
Fabius is on a two-day trip to the Middle East, where he hopes to promote a French-led initiative that would see the peace process relaunched through an international support group comprising Arab states, the European Union, and Security Council members.
These states would then work to pressure both sides to make compromises neither side wants to make alone. Talks would be rubber- stamped by a Security Council resolution setting the negotiating parameters and establishing a time period, possibly 18 months, to complete talks.
Earlier on Sunday, speaking before the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu took a veiled shot at Fabius, saying that "in the international proposals that are presented to us, and in fact forced upon us, there is no real addressing Israel\’s security needs and its other national interests."
"They simply try to push us to indefensible borders, while completely ignoring what will exist on the other side of the border," he said. "This will lead to the results that we are seeing, and experiencing at the expense of our flesh from Gaza and Lebanon," Netanyahu added.
Fabius responded by urging Israel not to shoot down his efforts at peace before he had presented them.
"The aim is to present a number of ideas and I haven\’t done that yet, so let\’s not prejudge," he said, speaking alongside his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki.