ISRAEL NEW OFFER

Israel to offer new peace initiative By DALE GAVLAK, Associated Press Writer MAY 20,07

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan - Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Sunday his government would offer a counterproposal to an Arab peace initiative to resolve the conflict with Palestinians.

He urged Arab leaders to meet with Israel to hash out the issue.Arab League chief Amr Moussa suggested he would entertain the Israeli offer but said it would not be seriously considered unless it was reasonable.Arab countries have been trying to re-ignite the stalled peace process with their plan that offers Israel full recognition in exchange for a total withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the creation of a Palestinian state.

Israel has welcomed the plan as a good starting point for negotiations, but objects to several key provisions such as pulling back to the pre-1967 borders and taking in millions of Palestinian refugees.

The Arab League has proposed, fine. We will make a counterproposal,Peres said during heated discussions that included Moussa and Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at the World Economic Forum in Jordan.

We will come to the Arab League, to the Saudis, where they want. ... If you are serious and we are serious, let's sit together. You cannot send us a document and say take it or leave it.He did not elaborate on the counteroffer or say when it would be proposed.Peres' offer coincided with a new outburst of violence in the Gaza Strip over the past week with a combination of Palestinian factional fighting and Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic militant group Hamas that has killed scores of Palestinians. The airstrikes, in reprisal for Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, have destroyed a 6-month-old truce between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Arab peace plan was first floated by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and renewed in March at a meeting of the Arab League. Arab leaders have urged Israel to seize the new opportunity.But the proposal has remained grounded with the Palestinian infighting in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's domestic problems after his handling of a summer war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon was sharply criticized.Moussa said he would wait to see what sort of offer Israel proposed before considering it.If there is a counteroffer and a reasonable one, then we're all in business, he said.But Erekat said he backed the Arab peace deal, calling it the most important strategy.Mr. Peres, our negotiations have finished. ... Today, it's time for decisions, Erekat said. Stop the bombardment of Gaza immediately and restart the truce between us immediately. We are willing to engage now in sustaining the cease-fire.On Sunday, Moussa asked Peres if he had the authority to speak for Israel, alluding to the domestic turmoil over the war's fallout.When I see what is going on in the occupied territories, and what is being said by other officials I really find myself at a loss, he said. Who is speaking for the state of Israel?

Peres insisted he was.

In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment because he had not heard Peres' proposal. Even though Israel sees the Arab initiative as very positive, he predicted it would remain grounded. Israel has no interest in stagnation and unfortunately, if the Arab initiative is take it or leave it, that will be a recipe for stagnation, Regev said. Peres adviser Yoram Dori also would not give details on the counterproposal or a timetable for its submission to the Arab League and Saudi Arabia. Our government, our Cabinet will discuss it, and we will submit our proposal to the Arab League and to the Saudis, he said.

Erekat urged Israel to solve the thorny issues including the future status of Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories. If Israel doesn't cooperate, he warned the region would be doomed. If we leave things to conflicts and wars and settling differences by bombardments and wars we will go into the 21st century in the vehicles of darkness and extremism, he said.