Abbas asks Cyprus to mediate: Europe must prepare for the next window for peace

In Nicosia, on Thursday 29 October, Mahmoud Abbas chose both a place and a moment. The President of the Palestinian Authority, received by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, said he hoped the formation of a new government in Israel would make it possible to reopen peace negotiations, and he asked Cyprus to act as an intermediary. The gesture is modest. Yet it comes at the very moment Israeli politics is in suspense, and it puts to Europe, and therefore to France, a question it will not be able to dodge for long.

The facts

According to Euronews and AFP, as carried by the Times of Israel and Arab News, Mahmoud Abbas recalled that Palestinians have long been reaching out to Israel.

We have been extending a hand to the Israeli side — Mahmoud Abbas

He said he wished to be able to engage in dialogue as soon as a new Israeli government was formed.

According to the Cyprus Mail, he considered that Cyprus, which has good relations with both sides, could play a "very significant" role, provided that any mediation rests on international law and UN Security Council resolutions. He named Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands among the European states whose positions are said to be close to those of the Palestinians, and argued for a greater European role. Nikos Christodoulides replied that Cyprus was ready to take on whatever role the Palestinians considered useful, presenting his country as a link between the region and the European Union.

The Israeli context explains the timing. According to the final results reported by Euronews, Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc wins 53 of 120 seats, the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot 48, and the Arab parties a record 19 seats. Neither camp reaches the 61-seat majority. The new Knesset is due to be sworn in on 10 November, after which President Isaac Herzog will designate the figure best placed to form a coalition, with 28 days that can be extended. Negotiations could therefore last for weeks.

The positions at stake

The sceptics deserve a hearing first, and their arguments are not slight. As AFP points out, negotiating a two-state solution has largely disappeared from mainstream Israeli political debate. A victory for the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot, should it materialise, would not on its own guarantee a resumption of talks. On the Palestinian side, Mahmoud Abbas's Authority exercises, Arab News recalls, only limited self-rule in the West Bank, which weakens its ability to commit an entire people. For many in Israel, reaching out without offering security guarantees or internal reforms would change nothing.

Others argue, on the contrary, that the moment will not come again any time soon. The outgoing government included, according to Arab News, ministers who openly called for annexing the West Bank, where more than 500,000 settlers live in settlements that are illegal under international law, alongside some three million Palestinians. The decline of Itamar Ben-Gvir's party and the unprecedented turnout of Arab voters, noted by Euronews, show that part of Israeli society rejects this headlong rush. A window, however narrow, exists.

The analysis

The Palestinian approach has an obvious shrewdness: going through a member state of the European Union, a neighbour of Israel and on good terms with it, rather than through the great powers. It also recalls a reality Paris knows well. In September 2025, France recognised the State of Palestine at the UN, as announced by the Foreign Ministry, together with several European partners. That recognition was not an end in itself. It only makes sense if it helps reopen a political path.

Yet Europe has grown used to commenting more than acting. It is among the main donors to the Palestinians and a major trading partner of Israel, and yet it leaves Washington a monopoly on initiative. In the Gaullist tradition, French diplomacy has always held two requirements together: Israel's security, which is not negotiable, and the right of Palestinians to a state, which is no more negotiable. This balance is precisely what international law demands.

Waiting for a coalition to form in Jerusalem before starting to think would be a mistake. Europe should prepare now what it could offer: credible security guarantees, support conditional on reforms and Palestinian elections, a reconstruction plan for Gaza, and a firm stance against any annexation. Cypriot mediation will only carry weight if it is backed by the Union as a whole.

Conclusion

Mahmoud Abbas has held out a hand, and no one yet knows who will take it. The answer belongs first to Israelis, whose vote must be respected. But France, having taken the step of recognition, bears a particular responsibility: to propose to its European partners, before 10 November, a common roadmap so that the next diplomatic window does not close for lack of preparation. Will Europe, for once, arrive on time?

Article written with the help of artificial intelligence.