Peace Plan: French Envoy Suggests Abbas-Netanyahu Meeting in Paris

• Peace Plan: French Envoy Suggests Abbas-Netanyahu Meeting in Paris
  by Tel Aviv – Nazir Majali, https://aawsat.com/english , 2 Nov 2018
  French President Emmanuel Macron sent an envoy to Jerusalem and Ramallah this week to discuss the necessity of proceeding with French-Israeli negotiations and exploiting the presence of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris.
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  He suggested a meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu who will be attending the conference on Nov. 11 at the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I.
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  Political sources in Tel Aviv said that the French National Security Adviser is Orléan la-Chevalier, said to be one of Macron’s closest confidants. He met Deputy National Security Adviser Eitan Ben-David, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and a number of officials from both sides.
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  Discussions were on means to settle the conflict and the possibility of France contributing to reviving the peace process on the basis of the two-state solution, added the sources.
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  La-Chevalier wanted to know the reaction of both parties on a clause that Macron intends to add on the closing statement of the Paris Conference. The Israeli government was cautious in dealing with the French envoy, expressing concerns that Macron might have rushed in presenting a French initiative to resolve the Palestinian cause, before the end of 2018, as US President Donald Trump intends to announce the settlement plan known in the media as the “Deal of the Century”.
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  Sources close to Netanyahu see that he is willing to sidestep facing these initiatives through preponing the date of Israeli elections, supposed to be held in November 2019. Observers said the date is likely to change to February or March.

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