Arab League sending first-ever delegation to Israel to discuss peace initiative, Hamas
© AP
2007-07-08 17:42:19 -
JERUSALEM (AP) - The 22-country Arab League will send envoys on a historic first mission to Israel this week to discuss a sweeping Arab peace initiative and how it might prop up embattled Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel's Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
The announcement came the same day Israel's Cabinet approved the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners in a bid to bolster Abbas in his power struggle with the Islamic militant Hamas.
An official League visit would be a diplomatic coup for Israel. The League historically has been hostile toward the Jewish state, but has grown increasingly conciliatory given the expanding influence of Islamic extremists in the region _ a concern underscored by Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last month.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan would lead an Arab League mission to Israel «within a few days» to discuss the Arab peace plan, which would trade full Arab recognition of Israel for an Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war and the creation of a Palestinian state.
«This is the first time the Arab League is coming to Israel,» Regev said. «From its inception the Arab League has been hostile to Israel. It will be the first time we'll be flying the Arab League flag.
Government spokesman David Baker said no date had been set for the meeting. But Israel's Maariv daily said Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit were expected in Jerusalem on Thursday for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
There was no immediate reaction from the Arab League. But last week, Egypt said Aboul Gheit planned to visit Israel soon. And the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, whose countries have peace agreements with Israel, have been designated as the League's official point men for the Arab peace initiative.
Livni met with the two men in Cairo in May for the first official, public talks between the two sides, and the Arab peace initiative was the focus of their discussions.
Israel rejected the plan outright when Saudi Arabia first proposed it in 2002, at the height of the Palestinian uprising. But it softened its resistance after moderate Arab states endorsed the plan again in March, sharing their concerns about Iran's growing influence.
Israeli officials have said they welcomed aspects of the plan, while rejecting its call for a return of all of the West Bank and an implied demand to resettle Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war that followed Israel's creation and their descendants in Israel.
Moderate Arab countries and the West have been pushing for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking since Gaza fell to Hamas, a group that refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has killed more than 250 Israelis in suicide bombings. Abbas ejected Hamas from government after the Gaza takeover and set up an emergency Cabinet of loyalists that has Western and moderate Arab backing.
Regev said renewed relations with the Palestinian government following the shakeup and the linkage to a broader Middle East settlement would be at the heart of discussions with the Arab League envoys.
«They will be talking about how the Arab peace proposal can help energize the rapprochement between Israel and the Palestinians,» he said.
Last month, Egypt hosted a summit of the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to show support for Abbas and to discuss the resumption of peace talks.
At that meeting Olmert pledged to free 250 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in a goodwill gesture meant to bolster Abbas.
On Sunday the Cabinet formally approved the prisoner release. But the timing remained unclear, reflecting a dispute between security officials, who want to free only prisoners whose terms are almost up, and Olmert, who wants a more significant gesture.
Over the weekend, Olmert rejected a list drawn up by security officials that was dominated by prisoners scheduled to be released soon, Israeli media reported.
«We want to use every means that can strengthen the moderates within the Palestinian Authority, to encourage them to take the path that we believe can create conditions for the start of meaningful discussions,» Olmert said in a televised statement at the opening of the Cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Palestinians criticized Israel for not consulting with them on who should be let go, and said the matter should be referred to a joint committee on prisoners the two sides set up two years ago.
«The prisoners issue must be dealt with through this committee and should not happen in unilateral steps,» said Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Abbas.
The planned prisoner release and other confidence-building steps came up in a meeting last week between Abbas' prime minister, Salam Fayyad, and the new Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, Palestinian officials said.
They said no decisions were made. Israeli defense officials had no comment.
Arab League sending first-ever delegation to Israel to discuss peace initiative, Hamas
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