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Photo: AP
Al-Faisal: We've done everything possible
Photo: AP

Rejecting peace plan is like asking for war, say Saudis

Saudi foreign minister says that Israel will put its fate in the hands of war mongers if it turns down peace initiative; Both sides must want peace equally, he says

Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Tuesday that if Israel rejects the Arab peace proposal, its fate will be determined by the "lords of war."

 

He said this in an interview to the British Daily Telegraph ahead of the Riyadh Arab League Summit, starting Wednesday.

 

According to the Saudi peace initiative, all Arab countries will officially recognize Israel in return for its withdrawal from all land occupied in the 1967 war.

 

A Palestinian state will be established in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank with East Jerusalem as the capital. The plan also proposes granting the right of return to all Palestinian refugees – a clause that Israel is opposed to adamantly.

 

The Telegraph quoted al-Faisal as saying that Israel could choose whether to accept the proposal or reject it. "What we have the power to do in the Arab world, we think we have done," he said. "So now it is up to the other side because if you want peace, it is not enough for one side only to want it. Both sides must want it equally."

 

He predicted a gloomy reality in the event that would reject the initiative: "If Israel refuses, that means it doesn't want peace and it places everything back into the hands of fate. They will be putting their future not in the hands of the peacemakers but in the hands of the lords of war."

 

"It has never been proven that reaching out to Israel achieves anything," he told the Telegraph. "Other Arab countries have recognized Israel and what has that achieved? The largest Arab country, Egypt, recognized Israel and what was the result? Not one iota of change happened in the attitude of Israel towards peace."

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.28.07, 12:08
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