Netanyahu opposed to peace plan
CAIRO: Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and his Jordanian counterpart Abdel Illah Al-Khatib were in Israel yesterday to discuss an Arab peace initiative that aims to bring an end to 60 years of conflict.
The two Arab ministers met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, President Shimon Peres as well as former Prime Minister and hardliner chairman of the opposition Likud party Benyamin Netanyahu. The ministers also paid a visit to the Knesset.
Aboul Gheit said in a news conference, “We hope that upon our return, we would also convey to the Arab League … the responses of Israel and I hope that such responses will be positive.
Livni said that Israel needs Arab support and it is only through a path of moderation that peace can be achieved.
Israel Embassy spokesperson Shani Cooper-Zubida told The Daily Star Egypt that “the initiative is very important to highlight general Arab desire for peace with Israel.
“In the future, we will discuss the points we don’t agree on but today as the foreign minister said there is no need to delay on details, but to find common ground in the moderate path for the goal of peace.
She also said it was important to “stand together against common threats, extremism and terrorism which threaten every country, not just Israel.
The Arab initiative offers full recognition of Israel by all Arab states (currently only Egypt and Jordan formally recognize the Jewish state) in exchange for the return of lands seized in the 1967 war, the creation of a Palestinian state and a “just solution for Palestinian refugees.
“It would be historically unforgivable if the initiative became just another document to be filed away … but the challenge we all face is how do we transform the initiative into something tangible that can energise the Israeli-Palestinian peace track, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AFP.
As for any Israel reservations about the conditions of the peace initiative (mainly the objection to the right of return and the removal of certain Israeli settlements in the West Bank), Regev said, “It would be irrational for Israel to expect the Arab side to accept all of our positions as a prerequisite for talks, and the same holds true in the other direction.
Al-Khatib said in Jerusalem, “We are extending a hand of peace on behalf of the whole region to you, and we hope that we ll be able to create the momentum needed to resume fruitful and productive negotiations.
The Israeli Haaretz reported that in a meeting with the ministers, Netanyahu explained his opposition to the peace initiative. He stated that the Israeli pullout from Gaza in 2005 had failed and that “wherever Israel hands over territory, the place immediately turns into a terror base for radical Islam.
“We need to restart the political process by means of economic projects which will advance peace and not the opposite, he added.
Peres also seemed nonchalant about the plan, saying, “I don t think that you can achieve peace in one meeting or two meetings. But the first steps are very important and we should continue to act in goodwill.
“No doubt that this is a very important visit, it is a beginning of a dialogue that started with the visit of the Israeli foreign minister to Egypt in May and indeed today the two ministers are meeting all the major officials who are welcoming them, Cooper-Zubida said.
“There is wide support for the peace process and the road to peace in Israeli society, she added.
There has been some confusion about the role of the Arab League in this visit. While the Israeli side has made it a point to indicate that the visit was sanctioned by the league, the Arab side has downplayed their involvement.
Regev had said, “This is the first time that a delegation has arrived in Israel under the auspices of the Arab League. An official Arab League body has authorised this mission to come to Israel and that is historic.
However, a statement released by the Egyptian State Information Service last Saturday quoted Aboul Gheit as saying that there was no truth to recent Quartet claims that the visit was on behalf of the Arab league.
Aboul Gheit was “representing Egypt and only Egypt, not the Arab League, the statement said.
