Saudi peace initiative
Although the Abraham Accords have been the main focus of Arab-Israeli peace-making since they were signed, the Arab Peace Initiative (API), introduced by the late Saudi King Abdullah 20 years ago, remains relevant and may be the better reflection of a path forward for Middle East peace
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Complete Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967, including the Golan Heights, based on United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 242 and 338;
A just settlement of the Palestinian refugee question on the basis of UNSCR 194; and
Recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
In exchange for those measures, the member states of the Arab League would:
Declare an end to the Israeli-Arab conflict, entering into a peace agreement with Israel; and
Establish normal relations with the State of Israel.
Thus, the initiative is, in fact, a basic formula outlining principles for negotiations and a political settlement but one that leaves maneuvering room for different meanings and practical solutions. For example, it was determined that the solution to the “Palestinian refugee problem” should be “agreed upon.”
Another example is the lack of a demand for the evacuation of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which is intended to leave room for flexibility regarding arrangements for the blocks bordering Israel. Indeed, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal noted in 2007 that the member states would have “to take notice of new developments, which require additions and developments in whatever is offered.”
As only 10 of the Arab League’s member states were present at the Beirut Summit, the API was reintroduced at the 2007 Riyadh Summit and unanimously endorsed by the member states.
(Syria and Lebanon objected to some aspects of the initiative but supported the document.
The Hamas representative abstained.) It remains to this day the single peace plan agreed by all members of the Arab League.
The varied Israeli response versus support from the international community
Israeli political leaders have addressed the API in a variety of ways since it was first introduced.
Ariel Sharon, the prime minister at the time, flatly rejected the proposal on the grounds that it would require Israel to accept a large number of Palestinian refugees and that it crossed Israeli “red lines.” Nevertheless, subsequent Israeli responses have been more ambivalent.
The late Israeli President Shimon Peres welcomed the plan, and then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert termed it a “revolutionary change,” while rejecting the elements related to refugee returns.
For his part, former head of government Benjamin Netanyahu has offered a variety of opinions on the plan over the years, rejecting it in 2007, calling it as a “general idea … good” in 2015, but then rejecting it again as a basis for negotiations in 2018.
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