In a column published in daily Le Figaro, former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called on France to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Valls is currently city councillor in Barcelona but reports say he might return to French politics.
In the column he said that it was “urgent” to break “from an outdated diplomatic tradition”.
“The formula for the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as the capital of the two states is obsolete,’’ he wrote. “It’s a dead language. The Oslo accords and their consequences, the evolution of the balance of power, the new geopolitical situation make any turning back impossible. ”
He accuses France of having frozen its position “for fear of a break with the Arab world and the Palestinians, paralyzed by the passions that this conflict stirs up in our country”.
He called for a ‘’renewal,’’ which would include the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by France.
He also called on French authorities to “encourage the creation of a Palestinian state”, which would be “in Israel’s interest and essential for building lasting peace.” “But we still have to denounce the absence of a democratic process and the corruption that plague the Palestinian Authority, put an end to the illusion of the return of refugees, demand from the Palestinian leaders the condemnation of terrorism and the incitement to hatred, and advise them to negotiate with the Israelis on new territorial bases, ”he wrote in his column.
