The so-called ‘French initiative’—a boost-plan for the moribund ‘Middle East Peace Process’ designed to bring Israel and the P.L.O. back to the negotiating table under an international umbrella through a series of multilateral summits—was born in classic French diplomatic opulence. Not nearly half-baked, the initiative was presented ceremoniously in a grandiose manner by a foreign minister who was replaced shortly after, prompting knee-jerk reactions from all parties.

The Palestinians welcomed it, though somewhat wearily, the Israelis swiftly rejected it, the Americans were once again caught unprepared and visibly hesitant, the E.U. felt circumvented and the Arab states unmoved and preoccupied elsewhere. The initial declaration came with a clear ‘Plan B’—if unsuccessful, France will move to unilaterally recognize the state of Palestine. After the immediate Israeli rejection, this element of the initiative was shelved.

It should have come as no surprise, given the ongoing French efforts to play the avant-guard role in the Israeli-Palestinian tormented saga. The first round of this French-Israeli diplomatic jiu-jitsu was played in January 2011. An early version of a French peace plan, quite similar to the current one in essence, was put forth to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Shortly thereafter, it was the then defense minister Ehud Barak who coined the expression “diplomatic tsunami,” referring to an organized internationalization campaign led by the Palestinians and assisted by the regional and international communities. Barak described a process that will be propelled all the way to the U.N. Security Council and force Israel to accept unfavorable peace terms. He tried to use this alarming code-word to put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward with serious negotiations, to no avail.

Read the full article at Middle East Institute.