Emmanuel Macron will receive Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday July 19 to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, two weeks after welcoming the new Israeli Prime Minister Yaïr Lapid, the Élysée announced on Tuesday.
During a working lunch at the Élysée, the French president will discuss with his counterpart "
possible ways for a resumption of negotiations with a view to achieving a just and lasting peace
" in the Middle East, the presidency said. .
They will also discuss "
the food crisis caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine
", which "
particularly affects the countries of the Middle East
", she added.
The two leaders had spoken on the phone on June 4 and President Macron then expressed his “
concern
” at
the “deterioration of the situation
” in the Palestinian Territories as the peace process has stalled since 2014. .
Read alsoYaïr Lapid, a new voice in Israeli politics
On the occasion of Yaïr Lapid's visit, he affirmed that there was “
no alternative to a resumption of political dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians
”.
And he had expressed "
his availability to contribute to the resumption
" of the peace process, even "
to mobilize the international community in its favor
".
But senior Israeli officials had immediately indicated that they were not in favor for the moment of a relaunch of the peace process.
Mahmoud Abbas, who has recently increased his travels after a two-year hiatus linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, met on July 15 in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, with American President Joe Biden.
The latter reiterated his support for the “
two-state solution
», a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, but without giving impetus to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.