France: We will recognize Palestinian state if talks deadlock persists

France warned Friday that it will recognize a Palestinian state if its imminent efforts to end the deadlock in peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians end without result.

“France will engage in the coming weeks in the preparation of an international conference bringing together the parties and their main partners, American, European, Arab, notably to preserve and make happen the solution of two states,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

France, Fabius said, has a responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to sustain efforts to reach a two-state solution.

Should efforts to breathe life into the moribund peace process fail, France would move to unilaterally recognize Palestine as a state, Fabius made clear. “And what will happen if this last-ditch attempt at reaching a negotiated solution hits a stumbling block?” he said. “In that case, we will have to live up to our responsibilities and recognize a Palestinian state.”

The Palestinian Authority envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said Friday that PA officials are waging a new campaign at the UN to revive peace prospects, with the starting point possibly a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements.

“We will not accept that the year 2016 is a year when we cannot do anything,” Mansour told reporters.

“We have to open some doors to keep the hope alive and keep the two-state solution alive.”