French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday ruled out any unilateral recognition of the Palestinian Authority as a new Arab country.
Macron addressed journalists at a joint news conference after meeting with visiting Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
The French leader expressed his disapproval of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying his nation remains committed to a two-state solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
“There is no other solution than the two-state solution, and no two state-solution without an agreement by both sides on Jerusalem,” he said.
But he also made it clear that he would not allow the Arabs to create a split in the international community as has happened in past years under the prior Obama and Hollande administrations.
There will be no “multiplying initiatives,” he said, saying he will allow the U.S. to carry out its peace effort to the end before he would support the launch of a plan by France or the European Union.
Paris will remain engaged, he said, as will the EU, in an effort to “accompany each of the parties in the negotiations.” Moreover, he said, “I myself will visit Palestine and Israel in 2018 in order to continue our exchanges on the peace process. The [French] prime minister will also arrive to the region for the second intergovernmental seminar.”
But Paris will not step over that line for now.
“Is a unilateral decision to recognize Palestine effective? I do not believe so, because it would be a reaction to a unilateral decision . . . We would be making a grave mistake by internationalizing a situation which we did not manage to resolve on the ground.
“I will do it at the right time, when I judge it will be useful to build peace on the ground. I will not make such a decision under pressure,” he added.
Abbas told reporters that the United States had “disqualified itself” from brokering peace between the two parties.
“The United States is no longer an honest mediator in the peace process,” he said. “We will not accept any plan put forward by the United States.”
He also claimed, “All of our demonstrations were non-violent. Not one bullet was shot by the Palestinians. We must continue acting in a civilized manner, without resorting to weapons.”
Mobs of Arab rioters hurl flaming firebombs, lit fireworks and rocks at Israeli motorists, police officers and Israeli soldiers along the roads of Judea, Samaria and in some parts of Jerusalem literally every single day with the direct praise and encouragement of the Palestinian Authority government under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas. His Fatah faction posts countless calls to escalate the violence against Israelis, and has referred to U.S. President Donald Trump as an “irrelevant clown,” comparing him to Hitler.
Abbas personally has found fault with every single peace plan and proposal that was ever suggested by any U.S. leader during his tenure, as did his predecessor and mentor, Palestine Liberation Organization chairman and terrorist chief Yasser Arafat.
The Palestinian Authority itself was created as a result of the 1993 internationally-recognized Oslo Accords – which mandates direct talks between Israel and the PA in order to determine all final status issues regarding borders and territory between the two.