Nations struggle to craft new Mideast peace strategy

PARIS — Nations struggled Friday to craft a viable new strategy for Mideast peace, failing to agree on a French proposal for an international conference that would bring together Israel and the Palestinians. Diplomats nevertheless vowed to reinvigorate a peace process that has been all but dead for two years.

The gathering in Paris of top diplomats from the United States and more than two dozen Western and Arab countries ended with a call for “fully ending the Israeli occupation,” a rhetorical shift from what Washington has previously endorsed.

But it wasn’t immediately clear if the shift meant a new focus, and participants couldn’t outline how they might achieve that goal. As for the proposed peace mediation conference, they only welcomed the “prospect” of such an event later this year. Israel has fiercely opposed it; the U.S. hasn’t been supportive, either. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials were present for Friday’s talks.

“A negotiated two-state solution is the only way to achieve an enduring peace, with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,” a joint communique said. It called the status quo unsustainable and said “actions on the ground, in particular continued acts of violence and ongoing settlement activity, are dangerously imperiling the prospects for a twostate solution.”

France said it felt compelled to bring world and regional powers together at a time when Mideast peace appears further away than ever.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to pursue peace, his increasingly hardline government and its strained relationship with much of the international community makes that seem less likely. At the same time, Palestinian leaders won’t engage in direct talks while Jewish settlement construction continues in territories they hope to include in their state.