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The Arab peace initiative: an assessment.

Article Excerpt
In the second half of the 2000s, several unprecedented developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict have highlighted the potential of a dramatic alteration of the Middle East's strategic landscape. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has sponsored a world conference on dialogue among various faiths and cultures, including Islam, Christianity and Judaism. It opened with a meeting in Madrid, Spain, in July 2008, and a follow-up session was held under the auspices of the United Nations in New York City the following November. The list of participants in this latest meeting included the kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan; the emirs of Kuwait and Bahrain; the presidents of Israel, the United States, Finland, Pakistan and Lebanon; and the prime ministers of Britain, Qatar, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti and Egypt.

Addressing the November gathering, King Abdullah stated, "It was high time the world learned the harsh lesson of history--that differences between followers of different religions and cultures engendered intolerance, causing devastating wars and considerable bloodshed without any sound logical or ideological justification." (1) The king also called for all peoples and nations to promote peace, harmony and tolerance. Israeli President Shimon Peres responded, "Your majesty, the king of Saudi Arabia, I was listening to your message. I wish that your voice will become the prevailing voice of the whole region, of all people. It is right. It is needed. It is promising." (2) Peres also told reporters that the king's initiative, henceforth known as the Arab Peace Initiative (API), has created a "U-turn" in the policies of the Middle East.

Following the New York conference, the Palestinian Authority (PA) placed a full-page advertisement in Israel's Hebrew newspapers to promote the API. The advertisement was headed by the Palestinian and Israeli flags and framed by the flags of 50 Arab and Muslim countries. The text read: "Fifty-seven Arab and Muslim countries will establish diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for a full peace accord and the end of occupation." (3) On the Israeli side, a group of former senior security officers launched a campaign to promote the API. They placed a full-page newspaper advertisement signed by more than 500 former Israeli generals, diplomats and military intelligence and security officials. They urged the Israeli people and government not to "ignore a historic opportunity which a moderate Arab world presents us with." (4)

In addition to these efforts to promote the API, Israeli officials and their counterparts from the Gulf Arab states have held several meetings. In January 2007, then Vice-Premier Shimon Peres participated in a BBC-sponsored debate in Doha, Qatar, and met with Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. (5) Qatar is the only Persian Gulf country that has an Israeli presence (a trade mission, not an official embassy). The emir advised Israel to talk to Hamas and invited Israelis to study in Qatar. (6) A year later, in April 2008, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni visited Doha and met with both the emir and the prime minister. Livni also held talks with her Omani counterpart, Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah. The meeting was the first of its kind between Israel and Oman since the two states cut off relations in 2000, with the start of the second Palestinian uprising (Intifada). (7)

These important steps to reach a consensus on a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace are particularly important with the inauguration of the Obama administration. Economic and political stability...