Jordan’s prime minister said a pan-Arab peace initiative has to be
marketed better to Israelis. Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit said in an
interview published Monday that, five years after the Saudi proposal for
Israeli-Arab peace was first broached, few in the Jewish state appear to
understand its value.
“Only the peace camp in Israel knows that the plan
includes better components than the road map,” Bakhit told the Arabic
newspaper Al-Dustour. He was apparently referring to the Saudi proposal’s
calls for full Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for its withdrawal
from territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli officials
have also voiced skepticism over the proposal’s demand for a “just and
agreed” solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, through some experts
suggest this clause gives Jerusalem a crucial veto option.
