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Vice-Prime Minister Peres: Israel to Respond to Arab Peace Initiative “As Soon As Possible”
Dead Sea, Jordan, 20 May 2007 – Israel will respond “as soon as possible” to the Arab peace initiative which was reaffirmed by the Arab League at their summit in Riyadh earlier this year, Israeli Vice-Prime Minister Shimon Peres told participants at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. “This is the position of the government of Israel. We are ready to make a counter-proposal. And, we are ready to sit down with whomever you want – the Saudis, the Arab League – and we shall try to air out the differences between us.” The World Economic Forum on the Middle East has brought together more than 1,200 business, government and civil society leaders from 56 countries to the Dead Sea. The meeting closes today.
On the podium with Peres, Amre Moussa, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, said: “We will wait to see if they put something serious on the table.” The Arab proposal calls for Israel to withdraw from all disputed territories, to recognize ”an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” and to agree to a “just solution” for the Palestinian refugees. In exchange, 22 Arab countries would recognize the state of Israel and normalize relations with the country. “Arab countries have adopted a unanimous and collective initiative offering the hand of peace to Israel,” said Moussa. “We have received no counter-offer, just gestures. But we consider this year as crucial. We want to reach a conclusion when the window of opportunity is open.”
Peres and Moussa also discussed the fighting in the Gaza Strip among Palestinians that has led to Israeli military action. “It was bound to happen,” Moussa said. “The embargo [by Israel] and starvation have led to that.” Observed Peres: “There was a unity government but not a united policy. They don’t act in concert.” Also on the panel, Saeb Erakat, Chief Negotiator for the Palestinian National Authority, argued that the factional strife in Gaza should not obscure what is at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. “The real issue is that you have an occupation that has been there for 40 years.”
Erekat told participants that conditions in the Palestinian Territories have deteriorated. Without funds withheld by Israel, the government is unable to pay teachers and healthcare workers. He expressed concern that the situation was undermining public support for moderate Palestinians. “You are destroying us; you are destroying our social fabric,” Erekat declared. “Get rid of the occupation if you don’t want to see Al Qaeda and extremism.” He called on Israel to accept the Arab peace initiative. “If we leave things in this region to conflict and war, and try to resolve issues through guns, then this region is doomed, and we will go through the 21st century in darkness.”
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