Arab leaders reject US call to reach out to Israel

KEY ARAB figures have dismissed calls from the Obama administration to offer normalisation measures to Israel in exchange for a halt to settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said that normalisation could be discussed only after Israel’s borders were set with Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.

On Monday, Kuwait’s ruler Al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah told US President Barack Obama that the Arabs would normalise with Israel only after it “implements and fulfils its obligations” by withdrawing from Arab land occupied in 1967. And, Jordanian foreign minister Nasser Judeh informed US secretary of state Hillary Clinton that only Israeli implementation of the 2002 Arab peace plan calling for full Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory would bring about normal relations between Israel and 57 Arab and Muslim states. The Arabs adopted the plan, “it is time for Israel to reciprocate,” he stated.

Last week Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal also rejected staged normalisation. He said “incrementalism and a step-by-step approach has not and – we believe – will not achieve peace”.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan enjoy close ties to the US. Among measures proposed by the administration are the opening of Arab airspace to Israeli civilian flights and the establishment of Israeli trade offices in Arab capitals.

While the Arabs reject US calls for normalisation, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says there can be no negotiations with Israel until it halts settlement construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, areas Palestinians want for their state. He offers no quid pro quo to Israel.

Yesterday he reiterated the settlement freeze demand at the opening of the Fatah general congress in Bethlehem in the West Bank. While calling on Fatah members not to “mar their legitimate struggle with terror”, he also said his government reserves the right to resort to “resistance” even though he is prepared to persist with negotiations “as long as there is a tiny bit of hope”.

During the three-day congress, the first in 20 years, 2,200 delegates are expected to elect a 21-member Central Council and a 120-member Revolutionary Council and approve a new political platform.

Mr Abbas pushed ahead with the congress in spite of deep divisions within Fatah and a split with Hamas which rules Gaza. His aim is to reunite and reinvigorate faltering Fatah.