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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff July 26, 2007 |
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in his meeting with the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan on Wednesday, stressed his hope that other Arab nations would open talks with Israel on the Saudi-backed Arab Peace Initiative.
However, in a press conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and his Jordanian counterpart Abdelelah al-Khatib were sure not to draw a direct connection between their visit and the Arab League.
Olmert told the foreign ministers that he would "be more than happy if the next time you come you will bring with you ministers from more Arab countries," to discuss the initiative whose central focus is the creation of a Palestinian state.
Relatedly, a senior government source said that Israel is "not far from a photo op with the Saudis," adding that Israel has been talking to the Saudis through a back channel third party, Haaretz reported. The source's remarks negate reports that the Saudis had allegedly lost interest in the peace initiative following the collapse of the Fatah-Hamas unit government.
Aboul Gheit told Olmert "We hope Israel and the Palestinian Authority will make sufficient progress in their meetings to create the necessary atmosphere for normalizing relations between Israel and the rest of the Arab world."
The Arab Peace Initiative, based on the Saudi peace plan of February 2002, calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories taken in the 1967 Six Day War - including east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights - in exchange for normal relations with the Arab world. It also calls for the return to Israel of Palestinian refugees and their descendents.
Olmert reassured his two Egyptian and Jordanian guests that he was working towards negotiations with the Palestinians on a two state solution. He described the Agreement of Principles that he offered PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which is based on creating a Palestinian state on 90 percent of the territories, creating Jerusalem as the PA's capital, and territorial exchange for the ten percent of the West Bank that Israel would keep.
Likud chairman and leader of the opposition MK Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his opposition to the principles of the Arab League's initiative. "Everywhere that Israel has given up territory has immediately become a terrorist base for extremist Islamic terrorism," he added, referring to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, who continue to launch rockets at Israeli towns.
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