© jewsdownunder.com"It's my move."
Israeli Prime Minister asked the international community for assistance in
restarting direct talks with Palestine on conflict settlement. Speaking before foreign diplomats,
Netanyahu reiterated that
he was ready to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas anywhere. "You cannot make peace with anyone who refuses to sit down with you [...] It's about time," Netanyahu said Thursday as quoted by
The Jerusalem Post newspaper.
Last month, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that
ministers of 20 countries would take part in a meeting in Paris on May 30 aiming to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials will be attending the event
. Netanyahu rejected the initiative, claiming it would only distance the sides.In late January, Ayrault's predecessor, Laurent Fabius, outlined plans to arrange an
international conference in the coming months to help resume the stalled Israeli-Palestinian talks, stressing that
France would be prepared to recognize Palestinian statehood if the talks yielded no results amid the new wave of violence in the region in late 2015.Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition of their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. Israel has been building settlements on the occupied territories, despite objection from the United Nations.
Comment: "You cannot make peace with anyone who refuses to sit down with you. It's about time." This is priceless, coming from Bibi.
Of course he rejected the initiative. If it is solved by the international community, Netanyahu loses leverage, control and the ability to 'Cry Wolf' at the drop of a hat. A solution eliminates that so useful primary fear factor, the useful primary enemy, and likely reduces useful extraneous military funding. This is Israel's game and to stay in it, it must never, ever come to resolution. More than likely Netanyahu recognizes the rest of the world is awakening from its Israeli stupor, the BDS campaign is taking effect and he's in need of quick and effective impression management.
Comment: "You cannot make peace with anyone who refuses to sit down with you. It's about time." This is priceless, coming from Bibi.
Of course he rejected the initiative. If it is solved by the international community, Netanyahu loses leverage, control and the ability to 'Cry Wolf' at the drop of a hat. A solution eliminates that so useful primary fear factor, the useful primary enemy, and likely reduces useful extraneous military funding. This is Israel's game and to stay in it, it must never, ever come to resolution. More than likely Netanyahu recognizes the rest of the world is awakening from its Israeli stupor, the BDS campaign is taking effect and he's in need of quick and effective impression management.