Ignoring PA Unity Deal with Hamas, Macron Asks Netanyahu for ‘Courageous Gestures’ Toward Peace

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) sha
STEPHANE MAHE/AFP/Getty

The Hill reports: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that he asked for “courageous gestures” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restart the Middle East peace process.

“I asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to make some courageous gestures toward the Palestinians to get out of the current impasse,” Macron said, according to Reuters. The French leader reportedly suggested that a freeze in Israeli settlements could be a good start.

Netanyahu, in turn, said that Palestinians need to first recognize that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel in order to kickstart the peace process.  “The most important thing about peace is, first of all, to recognize that the other side has a right to exist,” Netanyahu said. “One of the manifestations of this refusal is the mere refusal to sit down with Israel,” he continued.

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