PM to tell Obama he accepts 'some form' of Arab peace plan


Apr. 29, 2009
Haviv Rettig Gur , THE JERUSALEM POST
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to tell US President Barack  
Obama that Israel will accept "some form" of the Arab Peace  
Initiative, The Jerusalem Post has learned.


According to sources close to the policy review being undertaken by  
the new government, Israel will compromise on the Palestinian issue  
to obtain more direct and aggressive US assistance on the Iranian  
front. It is not known if such help includes logistical support for  
Israeli strikes in the case of a military confrontation with Teheran.


The Arab Peace Initiative was presented by Saudi King Abdullah in  
2002. It calls for normalizing relations between Arab states and  
Israel in exchange for a total Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967  
armistice lines and a "just solution" to the Palestinian demand for  
the return of refugees from the War of Independence.


While left-leaning politicians have expressed guarded optimism about  
the proposal, leaders of the Right have been skeptical about its  
sincerity.


If Netanyahu indeed invokes the Arab Peace Initiative in his May 18  
meeting with Obama in Washington, it would mark a major diplomatic  
concession for a Likud-Israel Beiteinu government.


But a senior Israeli official familiar with the issue told the Post  
on Wednesday that such a move would be more form than substance,  
since Israel has been in agreement with "some parts" of the  
initiative for years.


"President Peres has called the Arab initiative 'important' and  
[former] prime minister [Ehud] Olmert has said it has 'positive  
elements,'" the official noted.


But the acceptance of "some parts" of the plan doesn't mean Israel  
has accepted it as a whole, the senior official added. "The main  
problem is the demand for [the return of] refugees. The plan calls  
for a 'just solution' according to [1948 UN General Assembly]  
Resolution 194," which calls for refugees "wishing to return to their  
homes and live at peace" to be "permitted to do so at the earliest  
practicable date."


According to the official, "Israel has a problem with the term  
'just,' which among Arab diplomats can just as easily be a reference  
to Israel's removal as it can be a call for compromise. Should Israel  
accept into the country thousands or hundreds of thousands of  
Lebanese and Jordanians? It's a black hole with no end. It is a red  
line we will never step over."


According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy, "The Israeli  
position is known. When we talk about the return of refugees to their  
homes, the intention is not their personal home, which is impossible  
in either direction, but to their national home" - a possible future  
state. "Then there is something to talk about."


A similar principle applied to the Jewish right of return to Israel,  
Levy noted. The Jews have a right of return to the State of Israel,  
not to the homes from which Jews were expelled in other countries.


Also on Wednesday, a Foreign Ministry official said Foreign Minister  
Avigdor Lieberman was expected to make his first official trip abroad  
next week.


His five-day trip will include meetings with counterparts Franco  
Frattini in Rome, Bernard Kouchner in Paris and Frank-Walter  
Steinmeier in Berlin. He is also slated to visit the Czech Republic,  
which holds the EU Presidency until June.


The meetings will be conducted in the midst of tension between Israel  
and the European Union due to the efforts by EU officials to freeze  
an upgrade in bilateral relations until the peace process with the  
Palestinians moves forward.


The meetings are expected to focus on introducing the new foreign  
minister to his European counterparts, rather than on serious policy  
matters. The government is still in the midst of a monthlong policy  
review process, so its foreign policy has not yet crystallized.