French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Wednesday launched
efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process by this summer,
while ruling out "automatic" recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Paris will not "automatically" recognise a Palestinian state if a French initiative to host an international conference to revive the peace talks fails, Ayrault said on a visit to Cairo.
His predecessor, Laurent Fabius, had stirred Israeli anger in January by proposing such a conference and saying France would "recognise a Palestinian state" if peace talks failed.
"There is never anything automatic. France will present its initiative to its partners. It will be the first step, there is no pre-requisite," Ayrault said when asked by a journalist in Cairo about Fabius's remarks.
Ayrault is on a two-day visit to Egypt to discuss the French initiative for hosting an international conference "by this summer" to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks brokered by Washington that collapsed in April 2014.
"What we want, and that is our commitment, is to resume the negotiation process," he told reporters at a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.
The French initiative comes at a time of mounting attacks since the start of October that have left 188 Palestinians and 28 Israelis dead.
Read more: Middle East - France launches bid to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks - France 24
Paris will not "automatically" recognise a Palestinian state if a French initiative to host an international conference to revive the peace talks fails, Ayrault said on a visit to Cairo.
His predecessor, Laurent Fabius, had stirred Israeli anger in January by proposing such a conference and saying France would "recognise a Palestinian state" if peace talks failed.
"There is never anything automatic. France will present its initiative to its partners. It will be the first step, there is no pre-requisite," Ayrault said when asked by a journalist in Cairo about Fabius's remarks.
Ayrault is on a two-day visit to Egypt to discuss the French initiative for hosting an international conference "by this summer" to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks brokered by Washington that collapsed in April 2014.
"What we want, and that is our commitment, is to resume the negotiation process," he told reporters at a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.
The French initiative comes at a time of mounting attacks since the start of October that have left 188 Palestinians and 28 Israelis dead.
Read more: Middle East - France launches bid to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks - France 24
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