Speaking as 70 countries gather for Mideast peace talks in Paris on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned of "extremely serious consequences" if the US moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as planned.
Ayrault told French media that he believed US President-elect Donald Trump would find it "impossible" to fulfill his campaign pledge to relocate the embassy.
"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," Ayrault said.
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that peace efforts could be dealt a mortal blow if Trump moves the embassy.
Doing so would reverse decades of US policy, which has maintained that the final status of Jerusalem – whose eastern and largely Arab side has been occupied by Israel since 1967 – should be determined in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
Three US senators introduced a bill earlier this month aimed at moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv. The bill includes a provision calling for consular funding to be suspended until a US embassy is established in the holy city.
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