“The French initiative caught us unprepared. We didn’t expect them to surprise us like that,” admitted a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle speaking on condition of anonymity in response to the diplomatic initiative announced by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Jan. 29. The initiative itself is quite problematic, at least as far as Israel is concerned.
Briefing French ambassadors a few weeks before leaving office, Fabius said that France will be taking steps over the next few weeks to convene an international conference with the participation of the United States, Europe and Arab states. The purpose would be to ensure that the two-state solution remains a viable and tenable option. As he put it, “Unfortunately, Israeli settlement construction continues. … We must not let the two-state solution unravel.”
