Visit by French FM Fabius to the Palestinian territories and Israel (24-25 Aug. 2013) – French MoFEA press release/Non-UN document

Visit by Laurent Fabius to the Palestinian Territories and Israel (August 24 to 25, 2013)

Laurent Fabius will conduct a visit to the Palestinian Territories and Israel from August 24 to 25.

In the Palestinian Territories, the minister of foreign affairs will meet with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. He will also meet with representatives of Palestinian civil society.

In Israel, the minister will be received by President of the State of Israel Shimon Peres. He will also meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Tzipi Livni, Minister of Justice, responsible for negotiations with the Palestinians, Yair Lapid, Finance Minister, Moshe Yaalon, Defense Minister, and Yuval Steinitz, Minister of Strategic and Intelligence Affairs responsible for International Relations. He will also meet with Shelly Yacimovich, leader of Israel’s Labor Party.

This visit will provide an opportunity for the minister to encourage his Palestinian and Israeli interlocutors to continue the direct peace negotiations that were resumed at the end of July. He will convey to them France’s determination to support these efforts and to encourage the conclusion of an agreement that will put an end to the conflict, in a climate of trust and dialogue.

The minister’s visit will also provide an opportunity to strengthen and deepen bilateral relations with our partners, with whom we share particularly strong historical, cultural and human ties. The minster will reaffirm France’s full support for the development of the Palestinian Territories, notably for the establishment of a viable Palestinian State. He will call for the deepening of relations with Israel, notably in the economic field.

doclink: http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/israel-palestinian-territories/article/visit-by-laurent-fabius-to-the-18553