France will recognize a Palestinian state if a final push that Paris plans to lead for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians fails, its foreign minister said on Friday, January 29, Reuters reports.
U.S.-led efforts to broker peace for a two-state solution collapsed in April 2014 and since then there have been no serious efforts to resume talks.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has repeatedly warned that letting the status quo continue risks killing off a two-state solution and playing into the hands of Islamic State militants.
The expansions of settlements by Israel since then have been described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as "provocative acts" that raise questions about its commitment to a two-state solution.
"We cannot let the two-state solution disintegrate. It is our responsibility as a UN Security Council member and a power seeking peace," Fabius told an annual gathering of foreign diplomats.
Fabius has previously called for an international support group comprising Arab states, the European Union and UN Security Council members that would essentially force the two sides to compromise.
He said Paris would begin preparing in the "coming weeks" an international conference bringing together the parties and their main partners, American, European and Arab.
If this last attempt at finding a solution hits a wall, "well … in this case, we need to face our responsibilities by recognizing the Palestinian state", he said.
A French diplomatic source said the aim was to launch the conference before the summer and that it would not be accompanied by a UN Security Council resolution, which would inevitably fail.
