Saudis eventually zero in on the crux of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis: Jerusalem.
Israelis see flaws in Saudi idea for peace
By Ben Barber
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Palestinians yesterday hailed a reported Saudi plan under which Arab countries would offer full recognition of Israel if it returned to its 1967 borders. But Israeli officials called the idea vague and said it could push Jews away from their most sacred site: Jerusalem's Wailing Wall.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, told the New York Times that he had drafted a speech offering a deal - "full [Israeli] withdrawal from all the occupied territories, in accord with U.N. resolutions, including in Jerusalem, for full normalization of [Arab-Israeli] relations."
But Prince Abdullah shelved the speech in anger at Israeli repression of the Palestinians, said the Sunday New York Times commentary by Thomas Friedman.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the idea as a huge step forward.
"This is the most important offer that's been made by the Arab world for decades," he told Reuters news agency. "Prince Abdullah's offer is a very significant development that should be considered very seriously by the United States and Israel. [They] must not waste this historic opportunity."
An Israeli official said such a Saudi proposal could end Israeli control over the Western Wall of the ancient Jewish Temple and could hide a call for the immigration of 4 million Palestinians into Israel, under U.N. resolutions dating back 50 years.
"It is positive when Saudi officials talk about peace," said the Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "We should encourage it. We have not had enough of it and hope the Saudis will play a more active role."
But he said the New York Times column was vague and "could justify the right of return" by millions of Palestinian refugees hostile to the Jewish state.
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washingtontimes.com
If anything, the "flaw" lies in Israel's deviousness in continually postponing the question of Jerusalem and the Palestinians' claim to enjoy FULL sovereignty on its Eastern precincts. It's been sheer escapism all along! Now the Saudis are calling Israel's bluff on Jerusalem.... It's obviously an ominous prospect for the arch-Zionists and ultra-Orthodox Jews --the prospect of East Jerusalem outshining its Western suburbs in, say, 20 years from now. At least, demographically speaking..... Demographic supremacy, is that what the Zionists mean by "the right of Israel to exist"??
Gus |
