Paris conference presses two-state plan without Israel or the U.S.
France opened the second civil society conference on a two-state solution in Paris on Friday, bringing together 150 Israelis and Palestinians from 80 organizations to submit concrete proposals ahead of next week’s G7 summit in the town of Vichy. The earlier “Paris Call” conference helped lay the groundwork for the French and Saudi proposal presented at the UN last September, when France formally recognized a Palestinian state.
Israel did not take part, the United States was also absent, and French officials acknowledged that the G7 talks will likely focus instead on Iran, economic effects, and tensions between Europe and the Americans. Still, the French Foreign Ministry wanted to keep the peace process alive at the civil level. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, “Peace is also built from the bottom up,” and announced that 20 million euros had been raised this year to support the process.
At the Arab World Institute in Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the region faces “the unbearable humanitarian disaster in Gaza,” the pain of October 7 that is still “engraved in every family in Israel,” continuing missile fire into Israel, and the “unbearable” situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where he cited radical settlers, annexation calls, population transfer without consent, and harm to the status quo at holy sites. He said the conference participants were a reason for hope and action, adding, “This is a year of decision.”
Barrot said the two peoples face choices that should allow the Palestinian Authority to take responsibility, including in Gaza, and isolate extremists on all sides. Fifteen foreign ministers and deputy ministers attended, including representatives from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, Spain, Mexico, Ireland, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Norway and Turkey. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said criticism of the Israeli government does not conflict with Germany’s historical debt to Israel, and described the current situation as suffering, hunger and settler violence. The conference ended with a call on G7 leaders to enforce a lasting ceasefire, protect civilians, merge peace initiatives into one regional implementation track, stop annexation, rebuild Gaza, support Palestinian governance through elections and reforms, prevent the Palestinian Authority’s collapse, reconnect Gaza and the West Bank, advance regional integration, and join an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
