Major powers to warn trump over Middle East peace
Mr Trump has pledged to pursue more proIsraeli policies and move the US Embassy ...to Jerusalem...
Washington: Major powers will send a message to US Presidentelect Donald Trump that a twostate solution between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way forward. They intend to warn Mr Trump that his plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts. Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, are due in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as “futile” and “rigged”.
Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be represented.
But, just five days before Mr Trump is sworn in, the conference provides a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the future American leader. Mr Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel’s capital despite international objections.
“It would be a unilateral decision that could escalate tensions on the ground,” a senior French diplomat said. “Five days before he becomes president, it’s not negligible that 70 countries recall (the need for) a two-state solution when his administration could implement controversial measures that may aggravate things.” France has said the meeting does not intend to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that, ultimately, only direct negotiations between the two can resolve the conflict. Reuters