A French initiative to arrange a face to face meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an effort to quell the latest flare-up in violence received Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stamp of approval - yet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is yet to respond, the Haaretz daily reported Tuesday.
Last week French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reportedly tried to set up a summit in Paris between the two leaders via Israel's Minister of Interior Silvan Shalom, who guaranteed Netanyahu's willingness to participate.
Abbas late Monday met with European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to discuss "concrete steps" to calm the surge of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
The EU's diplomatic chief said she hoped the pair would discuss "concrete steps on the ground, including difficult ones, that can strengthen the Palestinians on an everyday basis".