French FM hails ‘courageous’ Kerry speech on Israeli-Palestinian peace

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault hailed the “courageous” speech by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday that outlined principles for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a statement, Ayrault called Kerry’s speech “clear, courageous and committed” and said France shares Kerry’s belief in a two-state solution that envisions Israel and the new nation of Palestine “living side by side in peace and security.”

Ayrault said Kerry’s remarks reinforced “the necessity and the urgency to implement this two-state solution.”

In his Wednesday speech, Kerry described settlements as a central obstacle to achieving an agreement between the sides and declared that Israeli actions in the West Bank were putting the two-state solution, which he said was the sole path to peace, “in serious jeopardy.”

France has been pushing an initiative aimed at revitalizing the moribund peace process between Palestinians and Israelis.

On January 15, representatives from approximately 70 countries will gather in Paris for a conference to throw the international community’s weight behind a two-state solution to the conflict.

Neither Israel nor the Palestinians will be present at the meeting, but France intends to invite Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Paris some time afterward to brief them on the outcome of the talks, the French foreign ministry said last week. Netanyahu has said he will not attend these talks, but offered to meet Abbas in Paris if the confab was called off.

While the Palestinians have welcomed the initiative, Israel has remained critical of the plan, arguing that only bilateral negotiations can prove successful.

Kerry’s speech came days after US President Barack Obama infuriated the Israeli government by failing to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an end to Israel’s settlement activity, thus enabling it to pass.

Earlier this week, media reports indicated Israel was concerned that the principles Kerry was set to articulate in his address would be discussed at the Paris summit, and could be enshrined in a further UN Security Council resolution. But the White House on Wednesday night said Obama would veto any further UN Security Council resolutions critical of Israel.

Netanyahu on Wednesday slammed Kerry for “attacking the only democracy in the Middle East,” while numerous other conflicts raged across the region.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said Kerry “obsessively dealt with settlements and barely touched upon the root of the conflict.”