OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/AMMAN: Israel’s foreign minister is putting together an interim peace plan that would grant the Palestinians limited independence in an attempt to blunt their efforts to win international recognition of an independent state, a government official Sunday.

Meanwhile, France’s foreign minister, during talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman, said Sunday that both countries share a “very close analysis” of the Middle East peace process and agree on the need for a swift restart of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

The Palestinians rejected the notion of a provisional state as a “publicity stunt” and urged Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to work instead to achieve a final peace deal.

Lieberman has been an outspoken skeptic of current peace efforts, saying conditions are not ripe for an agreement.

Under the emerging Lieberman plan, Israel would turn over between 45- to 50 percent of the occupied West Bank to the provisional state, though additional land could be transferred to Palestinian control in the course of future negotiations, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan is not fully formed.

The Haaretz daily newspaper said Lieberman has presented a map to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the prime minister’s office would not confirm the report.

Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev said the Israeli leader remains committed to a final accord resolving the decades-old dispute. But in a recent interview, Netanyahu said he might seek a short-term deal if the negotiations deadlock continues.

In recent months, the Palestinians have tried to rally international recognition of a state in these territories. The Palestinians launched that initiative after concluding that talks with Israel were unlikely to yield a hoped-for state.

Lieberman’s plan is an attempt to counter the Palestinian strategy.

Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on a final accord collapsed in September after an Israeli freeze on settlement construction expired.

The Palestinians say they won’t return to the negotiating table unless Israel halts all construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

With peacemaking languishing, the Palestinians have turned their backs on that approach, fearing provisional borders could become final frontiers.

“The option of provisional borders or an interim agreement is no longer on the table,” senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said. “I urge Lieberman not to fight the emergence of a Palestinian state, because it’s coming.” The proposal is “a publication relations stunt, to throw the ball in our court,” he added.

In Amman, meanwhile, the French Foreign Minister told journalists France and Jordan “share a very close analysis of the peace process, including the need to move quickly to restart the talks.”

“Jordan welcomes the French idea of a greater involvement by the European Union and moderate Arab countries in efforts to put the peace process back on track,” said Michele Alliot-Marie.

Speaking a day earlier at talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Alliot-Marie also said France is ready to host another donor conference for Palestinians if the peace process is resumed.

France had hosted a donors conference in December 2007.

The minister urged a resumption of negotiations, saying peace in the Middle East is “indispensable.”

She was addressing a joint news conference with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki after a dinner with Abbas in the Jordanian capital.

“France is committed to three principles: the creation of a Palestinian state, guaranteed security for Israel and Jerusalem as the capital of two states with free access to holy places for all those who come to practice their religions,” she said. “This is essential.”

In an interview with the Palestinian daily Al-Quds, Alliot-Marie reaffirmed that the E.U. views the 1967 borders as the basis on which to conduct peace talks.

“The European Union reaffirmed its position very clearly in December 2009, indicating it would not recognise any modification of the 1967 border unless it was agreed by both parties, including east Jerusalem,” she said. She also reiterated France's commitment to seeing through the creation of an independent Palestinian state by the end of this year.