France to convene summit to restart Israel-Palestinian peace process

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The French government announced it will convene a summit of foreign ministers in Paris next month as a start to renewing the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

The meeting on May 30 will not include representatives of Israel and the Palestinians, Haaretz reported Thursday.

Prior to the meeting, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he would come to Israel, on May 12, Israel Independence Day, to discuss the upcoming summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Invitations for the May 30 summit will be sent to dozens of foreign ministers on Friday.

The summit is set to be the run up to an international peace conference to be held in Paris this summer.

The Palestinians have been supportive of the idea of an international peace conference.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault angered Israel in January for threatening to recognize a Palestinian state if the Paris-hosted conference failed to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Ayrault backtracked on his statements last month, saying the conference would not “automatically spur any action.”

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