Macron and Netanyahu differ over Jerusalem decision

French President Emmanuel Macron and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked away on Sunday without reaching common ground on the issue of Jerusalem. The talks took place in Paris after US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise the ancient city as Israel's capital triggered Palestinian and global outrage. 

Netanyahu was in Paris ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers on Monday where they will try to present a unified front after Trump's move.

Macron told Netanyahu he needed to make peaceful overtures to enable to break the impasse between Israel and Palestine.

While condemning all acts of terrorism against Israel, Macron said that he told Netanyahu he was against Trump's decision, which was a "dangerous threat to peace."

"I asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to make some courageous gestures towards the Palestinians to get out of the current impasse," he said, suggesting that a freeze of illegal Israeli settlement construction could be a first step.

He reaffirmed that France believed that a two-state solution was the only viable option to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Netanyahu responded to Macron by saying peace was only possible once Palestinians recognise the "reality" that Jerusalem has been and will remain the capital of Israel.

"The most important thing about peace is first of all to recognise that the other side has a right to exist," he said. "One of the manifestations of this refusal is the mere refusal to sit down with Israel.

"Here is the gesture I offer ... to Mr Abbas to sit down and negotiate peace. That's a gesture for peace. Nothing could be simpler," he said, referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

No French mediation

Macron said that he did not expect any breakthrough in the short-term, but it was important to see what a proposed US peace initiative expected early next year would look like before writing Washington off as a mediator in the conflict.

"I don't think we need more initiatives," Macron said, ruling out a new French mediation effort after holding a peace conference in Paris last January.

When asked about discontent across the region over Trump's decision, including harsh criticism from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Netanyahu said he would not be given morality lectures by the Turkish leader.

Earlier President Erdogan lashed out at Israel as a state which occupies and terrorises.