Netanyahu tells France's Ayrault he still opposes peace conference

Record ID: 103503

  • Title: Netanyahu tells France's Ayrault he still opposes peace conference
  • Date: 15th May 2016
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (MAY 15, 2016) (REUTERS) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ARRIVING AT CABINET MEETING NETANYAHU AT CABINET MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, SAYING: "I told him the only way to advance genuine peace between us and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations between us and them, without preconditions." MORE OF CABINET MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, SAYING: "Our experience from history has shown that only in this way did we manage to achieve peace with Egypt, only in this way did we manage to achieve peace with Jordan, and any other attempt distances peace and gives the Palestinians an escape hatch to avoid confronting the root cause of the conflict which is a refusal to recognize the state of Israel." MORE OF CABINET
  • Embargoed: 30th May 2016 10:43
  • Keywords: Israel France Netanyahu Ayrault peace conference
  • Location: JERUSALEM
  • City: JERUSALEM
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014HX341Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told France's foreign minister on Sunday (May 14) that Israel remained opposed to a French initiative for an international conference to try revive peace talks.
    Palestinians welcomed the proposal but Israel is concerned an international forum would try to dictate terms for a peace deal.
    In public remarks to his cabinet after meeting France's Jean-Marc Ayrault, Netanyahu said: "I told him the only way to advance genuine peace between us and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations between us and them, without preconditions."
    Israel made the same arguments in the formal response it gave last month. France hopes an international conference would set out a framework for peace negotiations after U.S. efforts to broker a two-state deal collapsed in April 2014.
    After meeting Netanyahu, Ayrault travelled to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank to discuss the initiative with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Neither spoke to reporters.
    An international gathering, planned for May 30 in Paris, is set to include the Middle East Quartet (the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations), the Arab League, the U.N. Security Council and about 20 countries, without Israeli or Palestinian participation.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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