JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a multilateral French peace initiative as he met his French counterpart on Monday, offering instead to hold direct talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he would speak to President Francois Hollande about Netanyahu’s proposal. “It can still be called the French initiative because you would host this genuine effort for peace,” Netanyahu said.
“But here’s the difference: I will sit alone, directly, with President Abbas in the Elysee (French presidential) palace or anywhere else that you choose. Every difficult issue will be on the table.”
Netanyahu, who has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the French proposal, said “this initiative can still take place in Paris, because that would be a marvelous place to sign a peace accord. It’s a marvelous place anyway.”
Valls is due to hold talks in Ramallah on Tuesday with Palestinian Premier Rami Hamdallah.
Meanwhile, Israeli police say forces shot dead a Palestinian woman after she allegedly tried to stab a police officer at a West Bank checkpoint.
Spokeswoman Luba Samri says on Monday the woman approached the checkpoint with a knife. An officer opened fire, killing the woman, who was not immediately identified.
The incident was the latest in eight months of anti-Palestinian violence in which around 200 Palestinians have been killed.
