The idea that the international community could help concentrate minds in Israel/Palestine by proposing its own outline framework and timeframe for a peace settlement has been around for a while. Indeed, much of the shape of what are seen as the inevitable components of a final deal for the establishment of a Palestinian state has been widely discussed as part of a broad consensus embraced privately by key figures on both side of the conflict. The problem has been how to get from here to talking about such proposals.
With peace talks stalled for over a year, France has been sounding out the possibility of relaunching the process. Foreign minister Laurent Fabius has just returned from a weekend visit to the region in which he met all sides with his own three-part initiative: a return to negotiations, the establishment of an advisory committee of states to help both sides get over the "final metres of the negotiations", and some kind of UN Security Council resolution to anchor the process.
Fabius insists the aim is not for foreign powers to intervene directly in negotiations, but to warn of the dangers of continued stalemate. True to form, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu retorted at their joint press conference that "Peace will only come from direct negotiations of the two parties and without conditions. It will not come from UN resolutions that are sought to be imposed from the outside . . . if they [other powers] attempt to impose terms on Israel, this attempt will fail and drive peace away". The initiative was welcomed by the Palestinians.
Netanyahu's problem is that few believe he is serious about pursuing bilateral talks, and even US president Barack Obama has responded to recent Netanyahu preconditions for Palestinian statehood by warning they would make it hard for Washington to continue to defend Israel at the United Nations. A US willingness even to abstain on a resolution presents a potential window of opportunity. In the absence of any progress towards direct talks Fabius should certainly insist on pressing his motion at the security council.