BICOM

The lower house of the French parliament yesterday voted in favour of a non-binding motion to recommend that Paris recognises a Palestinian state.

MPs in the lower house of the French National Assembly voted 339 to 151 in favour of the motion which asks Paris to recognise the state of Palestine “as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict.” The French government is not bound by the resolution. Nonetheless, Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said, “Israel believes that the vote … will only jeopardize the possibility of reaching an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians,” adding, “Such decisions will only make the Palestinian positions more extreme and sends the wrong message to the leaders and peoples of this region.”

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius did not attend yesterday’s vote. However, on Friday Fabius said that the status quo is unacceptable and promoted a two-year timeframe in which to conclude an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. He also proposed that France host a peace conference including regional powers and actors. In addition, France is thought to be working with Britain and Germany on the text of a United Nations (UN) resolution on the issue, which it will promote if the Palestinians put forward their own resolution.

To that end, Jordan last month circulated a Palestinian-drafted resolution which calls on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank by November 2016. Reuters says that some Western diplomats have called the resolution “unbalanced.” Nonetheless, Jordan’s UN Ambassador Dina Kawar said yesterday that Jordan will push for a UN Security Council vote during the coming weeks. Kawar told reporters, “We’re going to try to make it before Christmas. If not, it will be in January.” She indicated that Jordan hopes to incorporate the European draft, saying, “We will be sitting together … to get as close as possible to a unified text that will be for the interests of everybody.”