Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, plummeting in the polls and
facing a Palestinian government he perceives as hostile, said
Thursday that Israel was willing to make "extensive, painful and
tough concessions" to encourage dialogue with its enemies.
A dormant Saudi Arabian plan for a comprehensive Mideast peace
which Israel initially rejected out of hand could be a "convenient
basis" for contacts between Israel and Arab moderates, Olmert told
a conference of kibbutz volunteers in Tel Aviv.
"The Saudi initiative is interesting, and has many sections that
I would be willing to accept though, predictably, not all of them
and it could certainly be a convenient basis for continued dialogue
between us and Arab moderates," Olmert said.
The Saudi plan calls for full diplomatic relations between the
entire Arab world and the Jewish state in exchange for full Israeli
withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Middle East War. Israel
dismissed it outright when it was first proposed in 2002, then
hardened its opposition after the Arab League tacked on an addendum
endorsing the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants
to return to homes in Israel.
But with recent meetings between Olmert and Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas yielding sparse results, Israel has begun
showing tentative interest in the plan. Arab countries are expected
to revive the proposal at a summit later this month in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia.
The push to reinvigorate the Saudi plan comes at a time when
many moderate Arab governments are worried about rising tensions in
the region and view progress on the Palestinian-Israeli issue as a
way to defuse frictions and blunt Iran's growing influence.
"This government won't miss a single opportunity to engage our
enemies in dialogue," Olmert said. "It is ready to make extensive,
painful and difficult concessions to encourage such dialogue."
A regional peace plan on the Saudi model could offer Olmert an
alternative vehicle for peacemaking now that he's ruled out
bilateral peace talks with the Palestinians.
Israel has said it will have nothing to do with the new
Palestinian governing alliance of Islamic Hamas militants and
Abbas' more moderate Fatah because it doesn't recognize the Jewish
state's right to exist, and hasn't committed to disarming.
Talks with Abbas, Olmert has said, are to be limited to
humanitarian issues.
Palestinians say recognition of Israel is implicit, and Abbas
has said the deal, negotiated last month in the Islamic holy city
of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, was the best he could get from Hamas.
After the Olmert speech, Abbas confidant Saeb Erekat invited the
prime minister to partner with the Palestinian president "in
launching a genuine peace process."
"I think the Saudi Arabian initiative is the most strategic and
most important initiative that came from the Arab world since
1948," Erekat said. "I hope the Israelis will accept these
invitations and be our partner in peace."
Progress on the peace front would also give Olmert a much-needed
boost at home.
(China Daily via agencies March 23, 2007)
