Associated Press
CAIRO: The foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan due to visit Israel later this month will only be representing their countries, not the Arab League, Egypt s chief diplomat said Thursday.
Israel had hoped that the visit would be the first by envoys from the Arab League, which has historically been hostile toward the Jewish state. Some Arab countries are technically in a state of war with Israel since the first Middle East war in 1948.
But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said his visit to Israel planned for July 25 with his Jordanian counterpart would only be on behalf of their respective countries.
This is not a visit where the Arab League flag will be raised, Aboul Gheit told reporters. This is a matter of principle. On Wednesday the 22-nation Arab League s chief, Amr Moussa, also said the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan would not be representing the Arab group.
A visit by Arab League officials would have marked an important diplomatic accomplishment for Israel. But many Arab countries considered such a move too hasty until Israel makes a gesture about the Arab peace-for-land plan relaunched by an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia in March.
The offer promises full peace with all Arab nations if Israel withdraws from territories captured in the 1967 Middle East War and allows the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel rejected the plan outright when it was first presented in 2002, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has recently expressed willingness to discuss it.
