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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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".
