Ramallah: Although the creation of one of the most right-wing governments in the history of Israel forced many to abandon hope of peace being reached between the Israeli regime and the Palestinians, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently considering the activation of the Arab Peace Initiative in a push forward to reach regional peace with Arab states.
Netanyahu hopes to hold a regional peace conference during which it will be officially declared that the Arab Peace Initiative is still alive. It is understood that the initiative will be put on the table and used to achieve a compromise, according to the Walla news site.
This matter is not problematic to Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, which is believed to support the discussion of the initiative.
The news site said that Netanyahu is believed to have come to the conclusion that there has been no way to advance peace with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who categorically refuses to recognise Israel as the “national state for the Jewish people”.
Netanyahu is concerned about the prospect of massive international pressure being put on him regarding his government’s hardline policies in relation to colony building and the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
The Israeli Walla news site reported on Sunday that Netanyahu has been convinced that advancement towards peace with the Arab states will reduce international pressure on Israel.
The website said that Netanyahu already started this move last Thursday with comments in the presence of the Israeli leaders who gathered to mark the 70th anniversary of the allied victory over Nazi Germany. At that time Netanyahu said, “Shared interest of Israel and Arab in stopping Tehran creates opportunities to advance alliances and even advance peace.”
“We will examine all these options, as well as the other challenges we are obligated to face,” he said.
The Arab Peace Initiative is a comprehensive peace initiative first initiated in 2002 at the Beirut Summit of the Arab League by then Crown Prince King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The initiative attempts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, which means normalising relations between the entire Arab region and the Israeli regime, in exchange for a complete withdrawal from the occupied territories (including occupied East Jerusalem) with agreed land swaps and a just settlement of the Palestinian refugee crisis based on the UN Resolution 194.
Walla reported that this was the first time Netanyahu has addressed this issue in this way and via such expressions in his speech, given the fact that he adopted strict policies towards peace and the Palestinians during his elections campaign in order to win the support of the right wing in Israel.
