Arab states discuss Israel concessions

Talks are under way among several Arab states on measures that would reward Israel if Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, commits to a total freeze on the expansion of Jewish settlement as part of a comprehensive American Middle East peace plan.
According to people familiar with the talks, several Arab states are discussing a plan of action that could include stepped up contacts with the Jewish state, telecommunications links and airline access if the US can secure a genuine Israeli adherence to a complete settlements freeze on occupied Palestinian land.

The sources stress, however, that Arab concessions would have to follow the US articulating how to achieve a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with benchmarks for action on both sides.

The Arab moves are, moreover, predicated on a drastic change in Israeli policy. The current government has said repeatedly that it will not curb what it calls the ”natural growth” of West Bank settlements – a loophole that has allowed the settler population to continue to expand rapidly in recent years.

The talks come as Barack Obama, the US president, holds his first summit tomorrow with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, whose right wing government wants to continue expanding settlements and has yet to commit to the two-state solution.

Senior US officials, in turn, have made clear that the administration will take a tougher line on Israel on issues such as the peace process, which has raised concerns in Israel about a looming rift with the country’s most crucial ally.

Officials from pro-western states in the Arab world say the Obama administration provides a rare opportunity for ending the Arab-Israeli conflict and it should be supported if it exerts pressure on its Israeli ally. This is the message that King Abdullah, the Jordanian monarch, is believed to have delivered to Mr Obama in Washington last month.

Any moves taken by the Arab world, however, would involve a few countries, and not the whole 22-member Arab League, to avoid what would undoubtedly turn into a bitter dispute. Concessions would also not involve revising the 2002 Arab peace initiative. People familiar with the talks say that states in the Gulf and in North Africa are involved in the current discussions, in addition to Egypt and Jordan , which already have diplomatic ties with Israel .

Officials in the region will not publicly acknowledge that talks are under way. But Nader Dahabi, prime minister of Jordan , yesterday told a panel at the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea in Jordan , that if the peace process moves forward, there can be a “deposit that Arabs will go into confidence-building measures.”

Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary general, also told the FT that action can be taken by both sides if the atmosphere between Israel and its neighbours changes, but warned that the Arab world would not “pay anything upfront.”

Israel’s attempt to develop ties with Arab states - something which could help make Israelis feel more secure in and integrated within their neighbourhood - has faltered as the peace process has stalled.

Arab governments signed up in 2002 to the Arab peace initiative, a Saudi-sponsored plan that promises normalisation with Israel if peace agreements are reached with Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon , on the basis of an Israeli withdrawal from all lands occupied in 1967. Israel raised serious objections to the plan, particularly its call for a solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees.

Senior Arab officials say George Mitchell, the US envoy, has been asking Arab states to consider measures towards normalisation if a peace process is re-launched – and not reward Israel only when peace is achieved.

Normalisation, however, remains a taboo in the region, particularly as it is considered the most valuable card in a conflict in which Israel is the more powerful party. Any attempt to alter the Arab peace initiative would provoke dramatic splits in the Arab League. This is why developing some ties with Israel would be taken by like-minded countries, not the whole region.

Palestinians have long sought a stop on Jewish settlements on occupied land, which are illegal under international law, arguing that they prevent a contiguous Palestinian state from emerging.

Since the launch of the Oslo peace process in 1993, the number of settlers in the occupied West Bank has more than doubled, rising from 116,000 to 285,000 last year. In addition, there are now more than 180,000 Jewish settlers living in occupied East Jerusalem.

Mr Netanyahu goes to Washington after having met both Egypt ’s Hosni Mubarak and Jordan ’s King Abdullah. The Israeli leader’s message was that his coalition is fragile and could collapse if he were to embrace a settlement freeze or agree to discuss issues such as the fate of occupied Arab East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the capital of a future state.

According to one person with knowledge of the meeting in Egypt , President Mubarak told Mr Netanyahu that Israeli leaders have been making this argument for the last 25 years. link...