Netanyahu to visit Sarkozy, Cameron in upcoming EU trip

PM reportedly aiming to thwart EU support of September Palestinian statehood declaration; trip follows Quartet bid to advocate '67 borders.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
PM Netanyahu with French President Nicolas Sarkozy 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier)
PM Netanyahu with French President Nicolas Sarkozy 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah will travel to Paris and London next week in apparent continued efforts to stymie European support for a Palestinian initiative to seek statehood in the United Nations this September, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
A statement from the Prime Minister's Office did not verify the reported goal of the visit, only saying that Netanyahu would discuss "political matters" with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
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The trip follows reports last week that European members of the Quartet, namely Germany, France and Britain, were pushing for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal to be based on pre-1967 armistice lines, known as the "Green Line." The United States reportedly blocked that initiative, AP reported.
Also last week, France said that European nations were considering unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
“Recognition of the state of Palestine is one of the options which France is considering, with its European partners, in a bid to relaunch the peace process,” AFP quoted French Ambassador Gerard Araud as telling a UN Security Council debate on the Middle East.