What is the Arab Peace Initiative and how has Israel responded?
The Arab Peace Initiative is a proposal originating with the Saudi government for resolving conflict between Israel, the Palestinians and the broader Arab world. The proposal, first adopted by the Arab League in 2002, presents conditions under which the states of the Arab League would be willing to make peace with Israel and normalise relations. The conditions are that Israel withdraws to 1967 boundaries – allowing for the creation of a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem – and affirms ‘a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.’ Although this position clearly represents a considerable advance from the days when the Arab League refused to even contemplate peace with Israel, the proposal was initially treated with a degree of caution in Israel for several reasons. The main problem is that the initiative calls on Israel to accept its terms without negotiation. Whilst the agr
The Arab Peace Initiative is a proposal originating with the Saudi government for resolving conflict between Israel, the Palestinians and the broader Arab world. The proposal, first adopted by the Arab League in 2002, presents conditions under which the states of the Arab League would be willing to make peace with Israel and normalise relations. The conditions are that Israel withdraw to 1967 boundaries, allowing for the creation of a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It also demands ‘a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.’ Although this position represents a considerable advance from the days when the Arab League refused to even contemplate peace with Israel, the proposal was initially treated with caution in Israel for several reasons. One problem is that the initiative appears to call on Israel to accept its terms without negotiation. Whilst the agreement may be
