Israel summons French ambassador over Paris’ vote in favour of Palestinian UN resolution, expresses ‘disappointment’
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                  Israel summons French ambassador over Paris’ vote in favour of Palestinian UN resolution, expresses ‘disappointment’

                  the French ambassador, Patrick Maisonnave (R)

                  Israel summons French ambassador over Paris’ vote in favour of Palestinian UN resolution, expresses ‘disappointment’

                  02.01.2015, Israel and the World

                  Israel on Friday summoned the French ambassador over his country's support this week for a failed Palestinian bid to pass a United Nations resolution calling for a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by 2013, formally expressing its “deep disappointment”.
                  The Foreign Ministry's Director-General Aviv Shir the ambassador, Patrick Maisonnave, to the ministry in Jerusalem and said that the only way for progress to be made on the diplomatic track with the Palestinians was through direct negotiations and not through unilateral actions or declarations.
                  France was one of eight countries that supported the Palestinian bid in the Security Council, a bid that fell one-vote short of the nine necessary to pass, and which then would have triggered a US veto. The US, along with Australia, voted against, and five other countries – Rwanda, Nigeria, South Korea, Britain and Lithuania – abstained.
                  The decision to summon Maisonnave to Jerusalem to issue a formal protest articulated both the surprise and frustration in Jerusalem at the French vote. France was also working on a resolution to bring to the Security Council which – though not to Israel's liking – was more moderate in its language than the Palestinian resolution that was put forward.
                  But French efforts to “merge” the two resolutions were foiled by the Palestinians insisting on tougher language. When the Palestinians rejected the French proposal, Israel expected that the French would vote against the Palestinian one, and was surprised when they did not.
                  Israel's Foreign Ministry has been closely following the deteriorating relations with France, and even held a special meeting on the matter about two weeks ago. A source who took part in the meeting said participants conveyed a sense that France is less attuned to Israel's positions on the Palestinian matter.
                  Moreover, over the past three months the Foreign Ministry has identified several incidents in which events, delegations, and planned collaborations with French bodies were canceled in the last minute. Among these were a Paris conference of Israeli and French high-tech companies and a visit by a delegation of French lawyers in Israel.
                  A senior official said that in each of these cases a different reason was given, and that on the face of it they were unconnected. It is also unclear if the French government was behind the cancellations. However, the overall impression is that of deteriorating relations. "There is a sense that the French are trying to link the progress in the peace process to the promotion of bilateral ties with Israel," the official said.
                  In addition to these incidents, there is also the recent vote in the French parliament calling on the government to recognize the Palestinian state.
                  Diplomatic officials said that Paris has lost some credibility with Israel's leadership, something that could hurt its ambitions to play a leading role in the diplomatic process. However, the officials also pointed out that while France's position on the Palestinian resolution was “problematic,” Paris has taken a very positive role from Israel's standpoint in the negotiations that the P5+1 – the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – are conducting with the Iran.
                  During the meeting at the Israeli foreign ministry, the French ambassador said that the international community is of one mind over the need to break the diplomatic stalemate and the dangerous status quo.
                  According to him, France voted as it did in order to encourage the sides back to the negotiating table.
                  Maisonnave also said that France disagreed with several parts in the Palestinian resolution and therefore tried to formulate its own draft.
                  He noted that the vote was not aimed against Israel, but an effort to prevent further unilateral steps that would strengthen extremists on both sides. "That's exactly what happened after the Security Council rejected the proposal, and the Palestinians went to The Hague," the ambassador said.

                  Written by EIPA with Maureen Shamee from EJP

                  EJP