France said Monday it wants to organize an international conference before the end of the year to present Israelis and Palestinians with a package of incentives if they reach a peace agreement. Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said at a briefing on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting that "this week must be a moment of political mobilization that we can reach that goal." Ayrault's push for an international conference in France follows an announcement by Russia's Foreign Ministry on Sept. 8 that Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed "in principle" to meet in Moscow for talks. But the wide gaps between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raise doubts about the prospect for any meeting - and if there is one whether they would make any progress. Abbas demands that Israel halt all settlement construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, and release about two dozen Palestinian prisoners before any meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the preconditions. Ayrault said several countries, including Egypt, Russia and the United States, are trying to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians. He said he told them that "all efforts are in fact complementary of the French initiative." France hosted an international meeting in Paris in June attended by more than two dozen Western and Arab countries to try to come up with a new strategy for Mideast peace and revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which have been all but dead for over two years. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders were not invited. The participants welcomed the "prospect" of a conference with both parties later this year. Ayrault hosted a closed meeting Monday for officials from the countries that attended the June conference. Russia has clamored unsuccessfully for years to host a meeting of the two leaders but Russia's Foreign Ministry gave no date or agenda for the future get-together. The United States has maintained a stranglehold over all Mideast peace processes since the Oslo Accords in the 1990s. For years, the US was seen by Israelis and Palestinians as the indispensable mediator and only power that could guarantee a two-state solution. But the Obama administration doesn't appear to enjoy that recognition any longer. — AP
