Egypt, Germany, France, Jordan discuss Israeli-Palestinian talks ahead of Biden inauguration

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The foreign ministers of Egypt, Germany, France, and Jordan met in Cairo Monday to discuss reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as US President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office on January 20, the Times of Israel reports.

The Palestinian Authority boycotted US-brokered talks after the Trump administration moved the American US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, cut funds to Palestinians, and lent diplomatic support for Israeli settlements in the disputed West Bank.

Hosting Monday’s conference, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said the meeting had been convened to plan for Palestinian and Israeli leaders to negotiate a “just and comprehensive political settlement” on the basis of creating a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

In a statement about the conference, France’s Foreign Ministry said the leaders would discuss encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to start talks based on “the positive regional context” of the recent normalization deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. “It is a question of contributing, at the same time, to a resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, with a view to resolving the conflict in the framework of international law,” the French statement said.

In a tweet, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the leaders would discuss “which concrete steps” would “build trust” between Israel and the Palestinians.

Although he rejected the Trump administration as acceptable brokers of any peace deal, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an international conference in 2021 in order to begin a “genuine peace process” based on the UN resolutions and past agreements with Israel, the Times of Israel said.

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