Saudis Tout Arab Initiative; Egypt to Call For Jump to Final Status Issues at UN

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday that its 2002 Middle East peace plan, widely known as the Arab Peace Initiative, remained the only framework to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, as the UN prepares to discuss the issue. The Security Council was due to meet later this month to discuss Arab proposals to revive peace talks that have repeatedly stalled in large part due to the Palestinian failure to implement the initial steps of the Road Map agreement.

The document was adopted by the Arab League in 2002 and foresees an end to the conflict through land-for-peace deals with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians. Let us remember that Israel was never consulted at any time on the agreement, and the Arabs now call their unilateral decision the "only framework." Placed side-by-side against the Road Map, which was accepted by the U.S., Russia, EU, UN, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, we clearly disagree. The Arab Initiative is far from the "only framework"... in fact, it's not a legitimate framework at all.

Another proposal to be presented by Egypt to the Security Council calls for reversing the timetable of the Road Map by fixing the borders of a Palestinian state before resuming talks. That's nothing short of a formula for disaster. Jumping directly into final status issues before the Hamas-led government recognizes Israel, accepts past agreements and renounces violence, before the territories are demilitarized, before the rocket attacks and kidnappings end, would create immense tension and more terrorism by irresponsibly raising expectations for a quick resolution. If you jump to final status issues without first dealing with the surface issues such as terror, you can expect nothing short of a disaster.

"The Road Map should have a conclusion and that is the creation of a Palestinian state. We need to agree on the concept and the borders, and then negotiate on the means of achieving this goal," Egyptian FM Ahmad Abu al-Gheit said Thursday. "Everyone must work toward the realization of the true goal of the peace process, which is to establish a Palestinian state."