News Analysis: Chances for French peace initiative success dim amid Israeli rejection

Palestinian analysts expect that the chances for the success of the French initiative to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestine "are slim" amid Israel's insistence to reject it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected the French initiative for an international conference to push Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Instead, he told visiting French Prime Minister Manuel Valls that he is willing to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in person for peace talks.

In response, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah accused Netanyahu of aiming at stalling time, as "the past 22 years of direct bilateral negotiations have not led to any result with Israel." Meanwhile, he welcomed the French initiative, saying "it comes at a critical timing" for the Palestinians.

During his visit to Ramallah on Tuesday, the French prime minister said that his country is willing to host direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis within the framework of the international peace conference.

"We support all that would enhance a direct, genuine and constructive dialogue that goes in the right direction," said Valls.

The French initiative will be one of the agendas during the Arab League emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Cairo on Saturday.

A preparatory meeting of the international peace conference at the level of foreign ministers is expected to be held on June 3 in Paris without Israeli and Palestinian representatives. Later in the fall, the international peace conference is expected to take place, which aims at restarting the peace talks between Israel and the Palestine.

Mohamed Ishtaya, the former Palestinian negotiator and the member in Fatah Party's central committee, accused Israel of always toppling French or any international initiative aimed at reviving the peace process and resolving the Palestinian cause.

"All what Netanyahu wants is to empty the French initiative of its content and take it out from its track in order to avoid any international pressure on him," Ishtaya told Xinhua. "Such kind of pressure is like an international coalition against the continuation of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories."

He went on saying that the French initiative with its current form "is the only initiative today on the table to resolve the Palestinian cause and end the Israeli occupation," adding "this is why we support it and we want it to succeed because the Palestinians will gain benefits out of it, but Israel doesn't."

Meanwhile, Ishtaya denied the reports of an Egypt-Israel-Palestine summit in Cairo.

He said "such reports aim at influencing the preparations and stealing the lights from the French initiative and the preparations for an international peace conference," adding "a meeting with Netanyahu is not on the agenda of President Abbas for the short run."

"President Abbas met with Netanyahu three times before: in Washington, Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt and in Jerusalem. Nothing has been accomplished and all were useless. Our Egyptian brothers won't agree with Netanyahu to take the French initiative out of its track."

The Israeli media reported on Tuesday that there are diplomatic contacts led by Egypt to prepare for a three-way summit soon in Cairo attended by Abbas, Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The Palestinians hope that the French efforts would crystallize an international coalition to sponsor the peace process based on implementing the related international resolutions.

Samir Awad, the political science professor at Beir Zeit University in the West Bank, said that there are chances for achieving progress in the French initiative and forming an international coalition to pressure for finding a fair solution to the Palestinian cause.

"But I can say at the end that the chances are very weak in terms of a peaceful solution aimed to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Awad told Xinhua, adding "it is so important for the Palestinians to back the French initiative and deepen the ties with Europe to achieve positive results at the end."

Hani el-Masri, a Ramallah-based political analyst, predicted that the French initiative is "a mission with hardship" even if there was an international pressure to minimize Israel's rejection to the initiative. Endit