02 April 2007
Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has invited Arab leaders to a regional peace conference to discuss their ideas for resolving the Middle East conflict. Olmert also tried to soothe tensions with Syria, saying Israel has no plans to attack its northern neighbor and would like to reach a peace deal. Olmert's surprise call for a regional conference came on Sunday after he met with German chancellor Angela Merkel, who currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency, and the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. Speaking at a joint news conference with Merkel, Olmert said, "I would take advantage of this important opportunity of being here in Jerusalem with the president of the European Union to invite to a meeting all Arab heads of state, including, of course, the king of Saudi Arabia, whom I regard as an important leader, in order to engage in dialogue." He said each side would bring its own demands, and neither would try to dictate terms.
Olmert's invitation Sunday was the first time an Israeli leader called on Saudi Arabia – which has no formal relations with Israel but has pushed recently for a peace deal – to take the lead. At a summit in Riyadh last week, the Arab League relaunched a 2002 Saudi peace plan that would recognize Israel in exchange for withdrawal from all occupied territories and a just solution for Palestinian refugees. Olmert welcomed the decision but said Israel did not accept all parts of the plan, especially a return of refugees to properties inside what is now Israel. "I think this new way of thinking, the willingness to recognize Israel as an established fact and to debate the conditions of the future solution, is a step that I can't help but appreciate," he said. While he proposed a regional meeting, he also said he would be willing to attend a meeting under Saudi auspices. He said that if King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia were to invite him, moderate Arab leaders and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to a meeting "to present Saudi Arabia's ideas before us, we will come to hear them and be glad to offer our ideas."
