French official declines Israeli claim of seeking recognising Palestinian state

Amid rising tensions between Paris and Tel Aviv, two senior French officials have arrived in Israel for meetings with Israeli leaders ahead of a planned international conference.

The conference, scheduled to take place in about two weeks, is jointly sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia. According to Paris, its aim is to support the implementation of the two-state solution. However, Israel views the conference as a covert attempt to unilaterally recognise the Palestinian state, a claim France firmly denies.

In an exclusive statement to The Jerusalem Post, one of the French officials involved in the preparations said: “The primary goal of the document expected to emerge from the June conference is to formulate a broadly shared international vision for disarming Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, reforming the Palestinian Authority, and planning for the day after, including through the prospect of a two-state solution,”

The official emphasised that “the June conference is not centred on recognising a Palestinian state,” clearly rejecting Israeli claim about France’s intentions.

Despite this, Israel continues to express worries that France is publicly reassuring while quietly working towards unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state, which Israel sees as a direct threat, according to the Israeli newspaper.

READ: US warns UK, France against recognising Palestinian State