PARIS -- Dozens of countries on Sunday called on Israel and the Palestinians to revive work toward long-elusive peace -- including an independent Palestinian state.
The closing declaration at a Mideast peace conference in Paris urged both sides to "officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and disassociate from voices that reject this. It also warned them against taking one-sided actions that could hurt talks.
While the Palestinians welcomed Sunday's declaration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference "rigged" and cooked up behind Israel's back to force it to accept conditions against national interests.
French President Francois Hollande said the conference isn't intended to dictate terms of a peace agreement, which he said can only come about from direct talks between the two sides. European foreign ministers will discuss the conclusions at their regular monthly meeting today in Brussels, but French officials say there's no intention to present the conclusions to the U.N. Security Council for a resolution.
The French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said the conference was meant to reaffirm the commitment of the international community to the two-state solution, which he described as the only viable resolution of the long-running conflict.
But President-elect Donald Trump's policies for the region remain unclear, and some of his appointments have raised questions about the incoming administration's commitment to the idea of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. David Friedman, Trump's nominee for ambassador to Israel, has been an avid supporter of Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, contrary to long-standing U.S. policy.
Many members of Netanyahu's coalition want to abandon the two-state solution and expand settlements, and some have even called for annexing parts of the West Bank.
The final declaration of Sunday's conference included criticism of incitement and "terror," a reference to Palestinian attacks. And some of the pro-Palestinian language in an earlier draft was removed after diplomats huddled in Paris.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been increasingly critical of Netanyahu, represented the U.S. at the talks and defended the effort.
He rejected Israeli criticism of the conference, saying the concept of a two-state solution to the conflict is "threatened" and must be reinforced if it is ever to happen. The communique, he said, endorses that without imposing a resolution.
"Given where things are going and what is happening, that is particularly important," Kerry said.
He also warned that it's too early to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem, as proposed by Trump. "This is not the right time," he said. "We think it's ill-advised."
Trump's administration did not take part in the meeting and didn't immediately comment on its final statement.
While Netanyahu has voiced support for a two-state solution, his critics, including Kerry, have said that continued settlement construction on occupied territories raises questions about his commitment to pursuing a peace deal.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon dismissed Sunday's conference, tweeting that it was "flat as a failed souffle."
"A big show is no replacement for direct negotiations between the parties," he said.
Hollande said he was sounding an "alert" that peace talks should be revived before violent extremists and Israeli settlements destroy any hope of a two-state solution. Hollande urged the diplomats to support peace efforts by offering economic incentives to Israelis and Palestinians.
The chief Palestinian representative to France warned the Trump administration not to "underestimate" the message of peace sent by the conference, or the U.N. resolution last month condemning Israel's construction of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Salman Elherfi insisted "the option of two states is not the dream of a single country, but it has become the concern of the whole world to protect it."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas praised the French government and called upon the participants in the Paris conference to take "concrete measures in order to implement international law and U.N. resolutions." In a statement Saturday, after a visit to the Vatican, where a Palestinian embassy was opened for the first time, he added, "It is long overdue for the Palestinian people to exercise their basic right to live in freedom and dignity."
The opening of the embassy was another symbolic victory for Abbas on the path to international recognition of Palestinian statehood. Last month, the Obama administration allowed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity as a flagrant violation of international law, defying efforts by Trump and Israel to derail the vote.
France and others expressed concern that the Trump administration could unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and moving the U.S. Embassy. The embassy issue wasn't mentioned, however, in the final declaration.
Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.
The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marked the "last flutters of yesterday's world."
"Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close," he said in apparent reference to Trump's incoming administration.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.
While the conference was underway, a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, waving Israeli flags and placards denouncing the summit, gathered outside Israel's embassy in Paris.
"The Palestinians and a number of Arab states have not expressed a will for peace," said Serge Klarsfeld, a French Nazi hunter. "If it existed and if the Arab world recognized the existence of Israel, we would find the means to solve all the problems very quickly."
Sunday's meeting is a follow-up to a June gathering that established working groups on issues such as Palestinian economic development and institution building. Hollande said he knows many people consider Sunday's meeting to be "naive" and "futile" but said it was "cynical" to allow the status quo to endure.
Information for this article was contributed by Angela Charlton, Matthew Lee, Josef Federman, Aron Heller, Ian Deitch, Philippe Sotto and Alex Turnbull of The Associated Press; Isabel Kershner of The New York Times; and Gregory Viscusi and David Wainer of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 01/16/2017