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World Jewish News
Jordan king to Netanyahu: Israel must accept Palestinian state
14.05.2009
Jordan's king pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to immediately commit to the establishment of a Palestinian state, as the monarch pursued a sweeping resolution of the Muslim world's conflicts with Israel.
King Abdullah II made the comments during a meeting in the Red Sea city of Aqaba with Netanyahu, who made an unannounced, lightning visit to neighboring Jordan. He urged the Israeli leader to immediately declare his acceptance of the Arab peace initiative and to take necessary steps to move forward toward a solution, according to a royal palace communique.
The statement did not give Netanyahu's response, and a spokesman for the Israeli leader was not immediately available for comment.
The monarch, who has been seeking to lay the groundwork for restarting Israel-Arab peace efforts, called on Netanyahu to halt West Bank settlement building and refrain from actions that would change the facts on the ground. He also urged the prime minister to lift checkpoints in the Palestinian territory and the blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Additionally, Abdullah said an Arab initiative presented a historic opportunity to reach a comprehensive peace deal in the Middle East.
The Arab peace plan would offer Israel relations with the 23 Arab League members in exchange for its withdrawal from land it captured in the 1967 Six Day War, a just solution for Palestinian refugees and the establishment of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
The king, whose lobbying has been in step with the Obama administration's efforts to link progress on Israel-Arab peacemaking to progress on curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, said there is consensus in the international community that there is no alternative to the two-state solution.
Netanyahu will likely hear a similar message when he meets President Barack Obama in Washington on Monday.
The U.S. says moderate Arab states such as Jordan will not join a united front against Tehran unless Israel moves vigorously on peacemaking.
While Netanyahu has been trying to forge cooperation with those nations to counter the threat from Iran and its regional proxies - Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip - he has pointedly refused to endorse Palestinian statehood.
Abdullah has recently warned that delaying a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians would be disastrous for both sides, and criticized Israel's failure to formulate a specific policy regarding West Bank settlements.
The monarch visited the White House some two weeks ago as the first state leader from the Middle East to meet with Obama since the beginning of the American president's term.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he would not meet with Netanyahu until he agrees to pursue Palestinian independence and freeze construction in Jewish West Bank settlements, something Netanyahu has said he would not do. On Thursday, Abbas met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus to discuss Abdullah's new Mideast peace push.
Abdullah traveled to Damascus earlier this week to promote his ideas to Assad.
President Shimon Peres, meanwhile, is scheduled to meet the king in Jordan on Sunday to discuss a combined approach to tackle the Mideast peace process. Peres is expected to tell Abdullah that Netanyahu's government is committed to the peace process and wants to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority.
According to Foreign Ministry sources, Peres has been invited to participate in the Davos Forum discussions, held annually on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and agencies
Источник: Haaretz
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