TEL AVIV—Abdul Ilah Al Khatib, Jordan's foreign minister and Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit, foreign minister of Egypt, arrived on the morning of July 25, for a one-day visit to Israel.
During their visit they will meet with the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu and Knesset (Israeli parliament) Chairperson Dalia Itzik. For the first time in the Knesset's history, they will also meet with members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense committee.
This visit by the two foreign ministers, as representatives of the Arab League, is a continuation of Israeli Foreign Minister Livni's trip to Egypt in May, when the dialogue with the Arab League commenced.
The visiting ministers will mainly discuss with the Israelis the Arab League's stance and support on the "Arab Initiative" that was recently approved in the Ryad summit.
All three foreign ministers held a press conference to discuss this historic event.
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni opened the press conference, describing this meeting as a unique opportunity for the Middle East, with delegates from Arab countries willing to realize the vision of two countries living in peace. Livni told the press, "We notice now that the Arab countries are ready and willing to support the bilateral process between Israel and the Palestinians, and today the Arab world is supporting the idea."
The Egyptian and Jordanian Foreign ministers called for peace and harmony between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, and emphasized that real peace and cooperation will bring prosperity to the whole area.
While Al Khatib talked about the withdrawal from occupied territories, Aboul Gheit declared, "The Palestinian people have been trying for a long time "to be able to breathe freely." We should act as fast as possible so they can reach this state."
Livni continued, "It would be wrong to try to negotiate a solution to every issue every country could raise today. At this time, we all accept the solution of two countries living side by side in peace. Then both sides should present their points, and the Arab World should support both sides in the Peace process."
"With the presence of many Arab Media in the room, this is an opportunity to explain that sometimes it looks like Israel has no interest in the peace process. That's not the reality." Livni explained. "The Israeli government does not praise stagnation. The Israeli government wishes to have two countries living in peace and to reach the end of the conflict."
According to Amira Oron, head of the Israeli foreign ministry Arab media department, "The Saudi initiative, which began in 2002, and which is now called the "Arab initiative," has gone through major modifications, offers Israel normalization and diplomatic relations with Arab countries, in exchange for quickly entering a political process with the Palestinians and resolving all the permanent settlement issues, including the issue of the refugees," referring to Palestinians which left Israel following the 1948 war of independence and the 1967 war when Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
"Israel has a difficult problem with the attitude of the Arab League regarding the issue of the refugees. The Arabs say that there must be a settlement and cite U.N. Resolution 194 from 1948, which talked about the return of the refugees [to Israel.] But for Israel that is a red line that cannot be accepted. Today, the Arabs say that the wording is different and claim that they are offering a settlement that will be mutually satisfactory to all sides, and therefore don't understand why Israel is so insistent," she added.
"All in all," Oron said, "the meeting today is a good initiative; it should be emphasized that there is a change in the Arab world and its attitude towards Israel. Nowadays there is no more talk of war but of supporting the peace process, and one should remember that these two foreign ministers have an important role in the direct negotiations between Israel and [President of the Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas.] Their involvement is important to us."
When asked about Jordan's and Egypt's attitude towards Iran, Oron explained, "Generally Iran is a threat to everyone. The Arab stance, including Egypt and Jordan, maintains that the development of nuclear weapons by Iran should be prevented, and on this basis there is common ground between Israel and most Arab countries."
The Arab League was founded in 1945. Its purpose is to foster regional cooperation and the coordination of social and political processes and to unite all the Arab countries. Of the twenty-two member states, only Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania and Qatar have full diplomatic relations with Israel.
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