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.
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