 |
 |
 |
|
|
Beyond Holding Hands....Bush with Faisal's Boss, King Abdallah
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff November 26, 2007 |
|
| |
 Bookmark to del.icio.us |
| |
 |
| Bush and Abdallah take a romantic walk on a previous visit to the White House |
| |
The United States has assured Saudi Arabia that it will offer specific proposals to help the Israelis and Palestinians forge a peace deal, a top Saudi official said on Monday.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said that in inviting his country to the Annapolis conference Washington promised to "use its full influence" to ultimately bring about a peace agreement. He said that meant if the two sides could not agree, "we assume the United States will come up with its own ideas." He apparently has good reasons for his assumption.
Despite the growing knowledge that Annapolis is a setup for American "suggestions," Israel has welcomed Saudi Arabia's attendance. "We hope this is only the beginning and that we will see greater and broader Arab involvement in the peace process," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. "For this process to succeed, both Arabs and Israelis will have to take bold steps."
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal announced on Friday his decision to attend the conference, but insisted he would not allow theatrics like handshakes with Israeli officials. "The Arab peace follow-up group has decided to accept the invitation to attend the Annapolis Middle East peace conference at a ministerial level to discuss the peace process," al-Faisal said during a news conference at the end of talks of Arab League foreign ministers to coordinate positions ahead of the summit.
Olmert, for his part, joked about the handshake issue. "I'm not going to go out of my way to shake hands with someone who isn't interested in it," he said.
"I remember that before the summit they said it would be a monumental achievement just to see the Saudis here, so now if we don't canoodle and get an invite to a weekend in Riyadh it's worthless? We have to look at the advantages of having the Saudis attend the conference," Olmert said.
"I represent the people of Israel and the State of Israel, a people with a magnificent history, and I will not put that honor up for sale. If someone doesn't want to shake hands with the people of Israel, I won't shake his hand," said Olmert. |
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
