France’s foreign minister pushed for restarting dialogue between Palestine and Israel on Wednesday during a press conference in Cairo, where he met his Egyptian counterpart. France wants to rally the international community behind supporting the two-state solution and intends to invite the Palestinians and Israelis to talk, a proposal that aims to end what Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described as a “vicious circle”, in a press conference aired live on Egyptian state television. Numerous international efforts have been made to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict but the two sides have not reached an agreement on several contentious points including the division of Jerusalem, home to holy sites for Muslims, Christians and Jews. The last round of peace talks started in 2013, through an American-led initiative but talks collapsed in April 2014, upon reaching a pre-planned deadline. Over a year after the talks collapsed, former French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius went on a regional tour, kicking it off in Egypt in June 2015, to push for the revival of talks. After Cairo, he visited Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Israel. Egypt has often been involved in talks between Israel and Palestine as…
French FM Discusses Palestine-Israel in Cairo Ahead of Hollande’s Visit
March 10, 2016
