Israel says Arab peace plan must complement process with Palestinians, not replace it The Associated Press May 14, 2007
JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Monday that an Arab peace plan is no substitute for direct negotiations with the Palestinians, and urged Arab leaders to prod the Palestinians into making concessions with Israel.Israel has welcomed the plan, though it has some reservations. The plan offers Israel a comprehensive peace deal in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from territories captured in the 1967 Mideast war.The Arab world can't take the place of the Palestinians, Livni told the influential parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The Arab world's role is to support the Palestinians on the points in which they will have to make decisions that will mean concessions.Livni last week met in Cairo with her Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts to discuss the Arab initiative, which was first proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and revived by the Arab League in March.Israel has said the plan is a good basis for negotiations, but expressed opposition to some points. It opposes a full withdrawal from the lands captured in 1967 as well as the plan's call for the return of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to Israel.
Today in Africa & Middle East
Inspectors cite big gain by Iran on nuclear fuelHamas ambush kills eight as Gaza violence worsens Iraq has become new epicenter for holy war, ex-chief of MI6 says. The initiative itself should not be written in stone, Livni said.Livni said Israel would support the return of refugees to a future Palestinian state, but not to areas in what is now Israel. The government also has said it would be willing to withdraw from large parts of the West Bank, but it wants to hold on to some Jewish settlements in a final peace deal.The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem as part of a future independent state.While Israel has begun discussing the outlines of a future agreement with the Palestinians, Livni said a final arrangement is not possible in the near future, mostly since the anti-Israeli Hamas movement sits in the Palestinian government.Do we have a realistic option to reach a final arrangement immediately?, Livni said. Our estimation now is that such a possibility is not realistic.
