Brussels – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday welcomed French and Egyptian efforts to revive peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians and said he would attend an international conference in Paris on June 3 that hopes to set out a framework for fresh negotiations.
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U.S. efforts to broker a two-state deal collapsed in April 2014, and Kerry said any peace effort would require compromise from both sides.
“The parties themselves have to make the decision to negotiate and in that clearly there will have to be some compromise, without compromise it is not possible,” Kerry told a news conference during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
“I will work with the French, I will work with the Egyptians, I will work with the Arab community in good faith in an effort to see if we can find a way to help the parties see their way to come back,” he added.
Kerry was in Cairo on Wednesday to further explore a proposal by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday to mediate a reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israelis.
The gathering of ministers in Paris is set to include the Middle East Quartet (the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations), the Arab League, the U.N. Security Council and about 20 countries, without Israeli or Palestinian participation.
Diplomats say the meeting will package all the economic incentives and other guarantees that various countries have offered in previous years to create an agenda for an autumn peace conference.
While objecting to the French initiative, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stopped short of saying Israel would boycott the conference.
A French diplomat said it was vital that the United States, a key Israeli ally, was at the conference.
“The Americans know they have to be part of this and have been making useful suggestions,” the diplomat said, adding, “The initiative is a gamble, but keeping the status quo is not viable either.”
Noch a mul.
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – attributed to Albert Einstein
Evil idiot! Israelis already compromised. You are ignorant of the history here. Concessions from Israel is all you resho’im want, not peace. You have never once suggested that the aid that America funnels to Palestinians be contingent on the abandonment of terror. Never once. You finally made statements about the Hamas rockets, but never with teeth. You and Barack Haman Obama are openly supporting terror, every action and every statement. You are a disgrace to morality. If you are serious, try forcing the Palis to stop terror. Here is the formula. Any non-compliance should redirect the aid to Israel.
1. No more acts of terror.
2. No celebrating terror.
3. No more weapons factories.
4. No more tunnels.
5. No more infiltration through borders.
6. No more anti-Israel activity in Hague and the UN.
7. No more teaching terror as a subject in schools.
These should be starting points. But you resho’im have defended all this claiming that Israel forced them to adopt this evil as a way of life. That’s baloney, and you know it. No, I’m not drunk enough to believe you would consider any of these preconditions. Hey, Baal Kerry, $47 million?
the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting a different result.