France denies 'automatic' recognition of Palestinian state if talks fail

Cairo: France will not "automatically" recognise a Palestinian state if a Paris initiative to host an international conference to revive Israel-Palestinian peace talks fails, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Wednesday.

His predecessor, Laurent Fabius, had stirred Israeli anger in January by proposing such a conference and saying France would "recognise a Palestinian state" if peace talks failed.

"There is never anything automatic. France will present its initiative to its partners. It will be the first step, there is no pre-requisite," Ayrault said when asked by a journalist in Cairo about Fabius's remarks.

Ayrault is on a two-day visit to Egypt to discuss the French initiative for hosting an international conference "by this summer" to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks brokered by Washington that collapsed in April 2014.

"What we want, and that is our commitment, is to resume the negotiation process," he told reporters at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shukri. Shukri said Cairo "appreciates" the French initiative, which "guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people".

Israel had reacted angrily to Fabius's remarks on January 29.

"This will be an incentive for the Palestinians to come and not compromise," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Fabius said that France was looking to revive plans for an international conference to "bring about the two-state solution" to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"And what will happen if this last-ditch attempt at reaching a negotiated solution hits a stumbling block?" Fabius asked.

"In that case, we will have to live up to our responsibilities and recognise a Palestinian state."

Ayrault said on Wednesday that France's goal was "simple -- to mobilise the international community around the only possible solution, that of two states".

"We shouldn't exclude anything, but I don't want to put this (recognition) as a pre-requisite," he told reporters travelling with him to Cairo.

"Otherwise we are going to block everyone," he said, reacting to reservations expressed by several European countries including Germany.