The Arab League blows it again
Fails to understand peace with Israel is good for the Arab world
The recent summit meeting of the Arab League held in Algiers, proved to have been practically a non-event. Time and again the Arab League fails at a crucial juncture to enhance the peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbors – thus plunging in irrelevancy as far as the future of the process is concerned for the good of the member states the league consists of.
The rebuttal of King Abdullah’s initiative, to call for normalization of ties between Israel and the Arab states – modeled on the respective ties between Israel, Jordan and Egypt – shed a very negative role played by the Arab League.
Instead of urging normalization and cooperation, the League as a whole, succumbed to the dubious ethos constantly demanding that Israel shall make further concessions so as to “qualify” at some point for the coveted, elusive normalization.
This is a negative policy of a body, which, over the years, has produced scores of anti-Israeli resolutions. The Arab League was responsible for the collapse of the web of Israel’s ties with the Arab states in North Africa and in the Gulf – in the immediate aftermath of the Camp David deliberations.
Israel’s preparedness for making concessions was to be met by a series of anti-Israel resolutions, adopted by the Arab League.
Let it be understood by the entire Arab world what was so acutely comprehended by His Majesty the King of Jordan: Normalization is good for the Arab states and for the peace process. In fact, the prerequisite for a renewed, successful process is the introduction of normalization.
'Arab League should heed to King Abdullah's call'
This should be the dynamic whereby comprehensive agreements are achieved. Normalization should not become a hostage at the hands of the Arab nations until all their demands of Israel are met; it is the key tool to create the right atmosphere, conducive and accommodating, for a peace agreement - the way the Helsinki agreements were.
He who genuinely wants peace will act on its behalf, so as to manifest economic, scientific, and medical cooperation, and to promote projects to educate tolerance and mutual respect; he will also adopt a code of conduct that defies incitement.
It is also time to consider re-employing the multilateral track of the Madrid process, a framework that brought the region to the closest point of normalization.
The Arab League would do its member states the greatest of services if it were to support the King of Jordan and the President of Algiers. It is imperative to embark on the road toward normalization for the sake of cooperation in all walks of life, for the benefit of all states in the Middle East and for mutual respect and tolerance.
The situation is frail and thus the forces of peace ought to be encouraged and strengthened.
While negating normalization, the Arab League is obstructing the peace process and eroding it of its potential. The Arab League will serve the supreme interest of the Arab nations by wholeheartedly supporting the call of King Abdullah for normalization.
Eytan Bentsur is the former Director General of the Israel Foreign Ministry
