Last week, the Arab world’s kings, emirs, presidents and prime ministers spoke with one voice on their desire for a Palestinian state and their willingness to make peace with Israel provided the latter withdrew behind its 1967 borders and accepted that Palestinians have a right of return to their homeland. The offer isn’t new.
It first saw the light of day in 2002 during an Arab League summit held in Beirut when it was virtually ignored by Israel and the US. But times have changed. Ariel Sharon, a committed warmonger, is no more prime minister of Israel and George W. Bush, his White House beset by opposition to the Iraq war and scandals, has visibly lost his swagger.
This time around the world is sitting up and rightly taking notice. Both the US and the EU have welcomed it.
The sticking point for Israel is the right of return. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he will not allow a single Palestinian into Israel proper. Arab leaders insist this stipulation isn’t negotiable. So, on the face of it we’re looking at yet another stalemate...or are we?
Olmert has been careful not to reject Arab overtures outright. Indeed, he initially went out of his way to praise King Abdullah and said he had a dream that within five years there would be a global Middle East peace agreement.
On Sunday, during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, currently also president of the EU, Olmert went one step further.
“I would even take advantage of this important opportunity to be with the EU president to invite all Arab heads of state, including the king of Saudi Arabia, to a meeting,” he said. “I think the readiness to accept Israel as a fact and debate the terms of a future solution is a step that I cannot help appreciate.”
According to Time Magazine, Olmert looks “very favorably at the active role the Saudis are now playing in the Middle East for many years and promises that if he had the opportunity to meet with King Abdullah “he would be very surprised to hear what I have to say”. Sounds hopeful if not somewhat cryptic!
Pressed by Washington, which is working closely with Egypt to further the initiative, Olmert may be making all the right noises but his actions don’t back up his words.
For instance, despite the Saudi-brokered Makkah Accord that brought forth a Palestinian unity government, Israel still refuses to dismantle sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority.
In recent days Olmert has referred to the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as a “terrorist” and contends President Mahmoud Abbas represents just “a minority stream among the Palestinian people”.
One doesn’t have to read too far between the lines to understand that once again Israel is saying it does not have a viable partner for peace.
In fact, Arab leaders could say the same thing. During Olmert’s tenure, initially brought about by Sharon’s illness, he has planned and launched a war against Lebanon, rejected negotiations with Syria over the Golan Heights and, along with other members of his Cabinet, is tainted with accusations of corruption.
Moreover if Olmert thinks Abbas, head of Fatah, represents a minority what does that say about his own position when his approval rating stands at a derisory two percent!
The question is can the Israeli people have confidence in their prime minister to make the right decisions on their behalf after he led them into an ill-fated war, which left them feeling more insecure than ever?
And for those of you who still believe the war was engendered due to Hezbollah’s abduction of Israeli soldiers, rest assured it had been planned between Washington and Tel Aviv last spring, probably to cut Hezbollah down to size as a precursor to conflict with Iran.
If Olmert has lost his clout with his own people then he should prove he is a true patriot and honorable statesman by calling elections when Israelis will have the opportunity to choose a leader who can grasp the Arab olive branch and run with it.
Sentiments surrounding the Riyadh summit’s offer make clear the initiative is on the table for a limited period when it will be going, going, gone. If it’s taken off, the Arab world is intent on shelving the idea of peace and taking stock of other options.
This determined mood was reflected in King Abdullah’s keynote speech. In it he calls for Arab unity and asks for the restoration of confidence “in ourselves and each other”.
He points out that “the Arab League was established over 60 years ago to become a nucleus for a genuine Arab unity, united Arab armies, integrated economies, united political objectives, and, before all, the unity of hearts and minds”, while recognizing that until now this vision hasn’t panned out.
“Once confidence is restored,” he says, “it will be accompanied by credibility.
And if credibility is restored, then the winds of hope will blow. And when that happens, we will never allow any forces from outside the region to design the future of the region. Then no banner other than that of Arabism will hover over Arab land”.
This new will and unity of purpose, as evidenced by the initiative which all 22 members of the Arab League have endorsed, if continued, is good news for Arab peoples, who feel they have been unfairly treated and disrespected by the international community.
It could be good news for Israelis too, provided their leadership recognizes that Arab leaders have done with empty rhetoric, and, this time, mean business. I may be a chronic skeptic but, I believe, for once, they really do.
