More than 70 world diplomats are gathering in Paris to urge renewed Middle East peace talks that would lead to a Palestinian state. The French organizers hope Sunday's conference will send a strong message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that much of the world wants a two-state solution to the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu says the conference is "rigged" against Israel, and the incoming Trump administration isn't taking part. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be there defending American interests in his last major diplomatic foray before he leaves office. French diplomats fear Trump will unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem.
