november 8, 2016 israel tells france it will not join talks aimed at reviving peace process 




israel has formally notified france that it will not participate in a peace conference later this year that paris had hoped might rejuvenate moribund talks with palestinians over a two-state solution. 




rejecting the initiative, israel cited the talks as a distraction from the goal of direct negotiations with the palestinians <u+2013> despite the fact there have been no such negotiations since the collapse of the us-mediated peace process in 2014. 




israel had long indicated it had no intention of participating in the conference. the formal rejection was delivered at a meeting in jerusalem with the french envoy pierre vimont. 




<u+201c>[they] told the french envoy in a clear and unequivocal manner that israel<u+2019>s position to promote the peace process and reach an agreement will only come through direct negotiations between israel and the palestinian authority,<u+201d> said a statement from the office of the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu.
israel tells france it will not join talks aimed at reviving peace process
kaitlyn stegall