Rivlin downplays effectiveness of Paris peace summit

President Rivlin stressed that without direct negotiations, there can be no peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. 

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday reminded the visiting president of France’s Senate, Gérard Larcher, that “there are no shortcuts in the Middle East” for solving conflicts.

France is scheduled to host an international summit for implementing a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) on January 15. Although 70 countries are expected to participate, Israel has refused to attend, preferring direct talks between Israel and the PA instead of an imposed solution from outside.

“The solution to the conflict requires two things: to build trust between both sides and for there to be direct negotiations between the two sides,” Rivlin stressed during his meeting with Larcher. “Without trust, no solution can work. Without negotiations, no solution can be reached.”

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which concentrates on countering the global campaign to delegitimize Israel, urged for the event to be cancelled and for direct talks between Israel and the PA.

“Israel has long sought direct talks,” the leaders of the conference wrote in a statement. “It is time for the Palestinian leaders to stop evading their responsibility and seeking to use international fora to avoid the only true path to a lasting peace.”

“Now is a time for serious reflection on how peace can best be achieved, not for another sham forum in which the usual one-sided outcomes against Israel are the likeliest result,” they added.

The Conference also called on the Obama Administration to stay away from the conference in light of the president’s scheduled departure from the White House five days later.

“It makes no sense that the next administration is precluded from participating in a discussion of an essential component of US foreign policy with which it will be engaged,” the group argued.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News