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Netanyahu cool to French plan for negotiations
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded coolly on Sunday to Frances proposal to convene Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Paris, saying the United States might want to pursue an initiative of its own.We will study the proposal and discuss it with our friend, the United States, Netanyahu told his cabinet, in remarks released by the prime ministers office. The Americans also want to promote initiatives, and we have our own thoughts, too, he said, without elaborating on possible ways to revive US-sponsored peace talks that fizzled soon after they began last September. We will see how the (French) proposal fits with other initiatives. Understandably, its not possible to implement all of them, and its better to concentrate on one initiative and move it forward, Netanyahu said. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, on a visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank this week, offered to host talks this month or in early July to discuss ideas for a Palestinian state raised last month by US President Barack Obama. Israel has traditionally been reluctant to embrace a major European role in Middle East peace-making, preferring to have its main ally, the United States, take the lead. Obamas proposal to use Israels pre-1967 war frontiers as the starting point for negotiations on a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israeli forces in that conflict, has drawn Netanyahus ire.
Netanyahu, who met Juppe on Thursday, has said a return to Israels narrow 1967 frontiers would leave it with indefensible borders. He clashed publicly with Obama over the issue during a tense visit to Washington two weeks ago. Posted by: Steve White 2011-06-06 |
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