Israel Rejects Arab Initiative

The Arabs are at it again. They have a new plan for the destruction of Israel.

Israel will be watching a meeting of the foreign ministers of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia scheduled for Tuesday in Cairo with "interest, but little expectation," senior diplomatic officials said Monday.

It is always good to keep an eye on what the other fellow is doing. Given Arab near monomania on the subject of Israel, I expect the usual rhetoric followed by the usual resolutions.

The details of the plan are sketchy, but it is believed that it will be based on the Saudi initiative from 2002, involve the UN Security Council, and call for an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict based on the principle of land for peace.

The Saudi initiative, adopted at the Arab Summit in Beirut in March 2002, calls on Arab states to "normalize relations" with Israel in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state following an Israeli withdrawal to the Green Line, and a solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees in accordance with UN Resolution 194. This resolution called on Israel to allow the return of Palestinian refugees and compensate those who don't want to do so.

Israel rejected the initiative, which has since been welcomed by UN Security Council resolution 1397 and mentioned in the road map.

The new Arab initiative which will be the same as the old one with cosmetic changes, is not going to bring Israel to the table.

Senior government sources said Monday that Israel's position on how to move the diplomatic process further - an issue that is coming back to center stage following the war in Lebanon - continues to rest on two pillars: the road map and the Palestinian Authority accepting the international community's three conditions for legitimacy - recognizing Israel, forswearing terrorism and accepting previous agreements.

Did I mention that the Arab proposal has included in it a deal killer. The right of Palestinians and their offspring to return to Israel and claim their old homes. The Indians might as well ask for New York back because the title transfer was not properly notarized.

Here is more good news from the Israeli Foregn Ministry. No more empty gestures. Israel is tired of going first and then getting a Lucy. (The ball gets yanked away at the last second). Here the new method according to the Israeli Foreign Minister:

Livni met Monday with a delegation from the US House Intelligence Committee and told representatives Ray LaHood (R-IL), Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) that Israel would not make any gestures toward Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

According to officials in Livni's office, the three congressmen came to Israel after meeting Saniora in Lebanon with a message that the blockade should be lifted for humanitarian reasons. LaHood is a distant relative of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

Livni's reply was that Israel's "pockets were empty" of gestures until UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is implemented. She said that if Saniora wanted to improve the situation, he should do everything within his power to work for the release of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev and enforce the arms embargo against Hizbullah.

I looked into some of the issues involved at The Blockade and the Prisoner Swap. The pressure is on Lebanon and the Cedar Revolution to grab power in the face of Syrian opposition. I cover some of that power struggle in The Lebanese Labrynth.

BTW The Captain thinks Israel is interested in this proposal. Except for all the deal killers I mentioned and some I didn't.