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Rivlin to top French politician: There are no shortcuts in the Mideast

In a meeting Tuesday with the visiting President of France's Senate Gérard Larcher, President Reuven Rivlin dismissed the prospect of Paris's plans to hold an upcoming summit with the goal of reaching a solution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While Rivlin said that Israel appreciated France's concern regarding the conflict, he underlined that "there are no shortcuts in the Middle East."
"The solution to the conflict requires two things; to build trust between the sides, and direct negotiations between the two sides,” he stated. “Without trust, no solution will work. Without negotiations, no solution can be reached.”
Rivlin noted that the recent approval by France and 13 other UN Security Council members of a resolution that condemns Israeli settlements is "not helping us build trust." He added that the controversial December 23 vote is actually "pushing us further away from peace."