Sarkozy, who has aspired to make France a key actor in the Middle East since he came to power in May 2007, is now trying to revive peace talks between Israel and Syria, bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders together and find a role for Paris in efforts to solve Lebanon’s internal tensions. This month he offered to host an international summit in Paris to break the deadlock in the Middle East peace process. Sarkozy first raised the proposal in his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, then with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The proposed conference’s participants do not include Turkey, which mediated indirect talks between Syria and Israel until they collapsed because of a deadly offensive by the Israeli military in Gaza, which killed about 1,400 Palestinians in December and January.
Sarkozy’s attempts to establish France as a key player in the Middle East are at the expense of Turkey, a country which has a growing reputation for being a credible mediator in the Middle East due to its open criticism of Israel while still maintaining close ties with the US and Europe. Thus, when he attempted to bring Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Syrian President al-Assad together in Paris earlier this month, al-Assad said France could help the peace efforts by pressuring Israel to return to Turkish-mediated talks. Netanyahu, on the other hand, signaled readiness for a French role in talks with Syria.
Even in Lebanon, a former French colony, Paris’ influence over resolving a crisis due the presidential elections and the troubled process of forming a government was limited.
As for the Israeli-Palestinian track, Paris seems to have limited room to maneuver because the US is seen as the only country that can exert influence over both Israel and the Palestinians. Arab observers say France is not the most popular choice for Palestinians either because of Sarkozy’s perceived bias for Israel. Palestinian group Hamas and some members of the more moderate al-Fatah believe that France cannot be an impartial mediator with Israel.
Erdoğan doubtful about French role
Speaking in Rome on Wednesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he did not think al-Assad would accept a French role in mediating with Israel. “Now France is trying to take up the role we had,” Erdoğan said. “I’m not sure what kind of stance Bashar al-Assad will take, but from what I’ve heard from him, they’re not going to accept something like this.” Erdoğan also said Turkey was ready to resume mediating talks between Israel and Syria, but added that Israel does not trust Turkey. Erdoğan singled out Netanyahu for failing to trust Ankara, unlike his predecessor Ehud Olmert. “Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert trusted Turkey, but Netanyahu doesn’t trust us. That’s his choice,” he said.
