10/11/09
France fears that Israel no longer wants a Middle East peace deal, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Tuesday, and that Paris remains deeply opposed to Jewish settlement building in the West Bank. Later, French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has said he does not want to run for reelection in January. The two leaders spoke on the phone ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Paris on Wednesday. While Sarkozy encouraged Abbas to pursue Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, Kouchner made clear he was not expecting any swift breakthrough in the negotiations.