(Shlomo Cesana-IsraleHayom).Israel has been working to prevent the Quartet for Middle East peace -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- from urging a return to negotiations based on the 1967 lines.
Quartet members are scheduled to meet in Washington on Monday, when they are expected to make an announcement supporting peace talks based on the 1967 lines in an attempt to prevent Palestinians from seeking unilateral recognition of statehood.
Both the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry have been working feverishly to reject a proposal by France, according to which the Quartet will "urge the sides to return to negotiations based on the outline suggested by President Barack Obama."
Jerusalem believes that if the French proposal is accepted, it will result in greater pressure on Israel, which rejects the proposal, while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomes it. Israel is relying on Germany to support it.