France, U.K. want Israel to push talks

PARIS, May 5 (UPI) -- France and Britain have turned up the heat on Israel to do more for the peace process with the Palestinians.

France may unilaterally recognize a state of Palestine if Israel fails to push peace talks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said this week.

"If the peace process is still dead in September," a deadline the Palestinians set to have their own state, "France will face up to its responsibilities on the central question of recognition of a Palestinian state," Sarkozy told French weekly L'Express.
"The idea that there is still plenty of time is dangerous. Things have to be brought to a conclusion."

Sarkozy's remarks hit the newsstands Wednesday, a few hours before the main Palestinian factions signed a unity agreement in Cairo and a day before he was to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Palestinian unity deal ends years of internal conflict between the Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas, the Islamic movement that rules Gaza.

Israel denounced the agreement, urging the European Union to cut funding for the Palestinians unless Hamas recognizes Israel and renounces violence.

At a meeting with Netanyahu this week, British Prime Minister David Cameron urged the Israeli leader to back the peace process despite the unity agreement, the Daily Mail reports. Not talking with the Palestinians would "fuel hate and radicalization," Cameron told Netanyahu.

While the British leader didn't mention a unilateral recognition of Palestine, the Daily Mail quotes a senior Downing Street source as saying that London is ready to do so given a stalemate.

"Our clear preference is for a negotiated settlement where everyone can endorse a two state solution," the source, which wasn't named, told the daily. "But if there is no agreement to enter talks that could force the issue. The best way for the Israelis to avoid a unilateral declaration is to engage in peace talks."

Germany, however, one of Europe's most powerful countries when it comes to determining a joint foreign policy course, has close ties with Israel and is unlikely to risk those.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel favors a two-state solution and won't recognize a Palestinian state without Israel's green light, she said last month after talks with Netanyahu in Berlin. She reiterated that position after a meeting with Abbas Thursday in Berlin.

"I believe that one-sided steps, no matter in which direction, won't help," Merkel said.

Her position is in line with that of the Middle East Quartet, which includes the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations and wants Hamas to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. At least the United States, however, is unwilling to rule out negotiations with Hamas, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday in Rome, The New York Times reports.