Palestinian Foreign Ministry slams Netanyahu rejection of French peace initiatve

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to hold a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas was a bid to market the rejection of the French peace initiative.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry 
said Netanyahu reiterated during a meeting with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Monday his rejection of the French initiative which aimed at holding an international peace conference to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The statement said Netanyahu's call for meeting Abbas was also an attempt to wriggle out of responsbility towards peace.

Netahyahu said during his meeting with the French prime minister he would only consider “direct negotiations” with Palestinian leadership without Palestinian preconditions.

“Peace just does not get achieved through international conferences, UN-style,” Netanyahu said following the meeting with Valls. “It doesn't get to fruition through international diktats or committees from countries around the world who are sitting and seeking to decide our fate and our security when they have no direct stake in it.”

“You said that direct talks are very difficult right now,” Netanyahu added, speaking to Valls. “And you're right. They are, but they're the only way to proceed towards peace.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly opposed France’s efforts this year to organize a peace conference which will reportedly aim for the establishment of a future Palestinian State along 1967 borders and a shared capital of Jerusalem. 

Source ; MENA