May 14, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423

RIYADH: By rejecting a Palestinian state, the ruling Likud party of Israel is standing at the same position, where the Arabs were 36 years before in 1966 when they had rejected the idea of a Jewish state in the region.

Today while on one hand the Arab leadership is open to the option of two states, a Palestinian and a Jewish, side by side, the Israeli leadership is adamant to any such possibility.

Will it take the Israelis to reach to the point another 36 years is still to be answered. If it is really so, the results could be detrimental to the very peace and stability of the region, and indeed the whole world, most of the analysts here agree. It is a prescription for destruction, instability and extremism, every one here agrees.

But in reality the strategy of Israeli peace negotiators has for years been to argue over every inch of land before yielding and handing it back to the Arabs. Ariel Sharon’s government is no exception to this rule. His predecessors including Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak were in practice, also proponents of the same strategy.

Over these last 36 years Arabs have gone a long way. From a position of rejecting the very idea of a Jewish state in their midst, today they are ready to accept it and swallow the bitter pill, as a price for peace and stability of the region. Even a conservative Arab state like Saudi Arabia is in the forefront to accept the Jewish state as a reality in the region. ”Isn’t that a price worth paying, so as to end the plight of five million Palestinians and restore the lands of three countries, ensuring stability in the region,” Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah remarked recently.

Apparently Arabs do not have much option. They have to rely on US support, with its well-known and documented tilt towards the Jewish state, to make Israel concede at least the basic demands and the requirements of the Palestinians. The Arab leadership is increasingly aware of their limitations in forcing Israel accept any peace deal with the Palestinians based on the concepts of justice and equality.

Although in recent days, the Arabs have publicly at least, been appreciating the US involvement in the issues of the region. On Saturday Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said he sees a ray of hope towards reaching a peaceful solution to the Palestinian, Israeli imbroglio, because of the increased US involvement in the affairs of the region. Then on Sunday Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian leader also welcomed the more direct involvement of the US in the region.

The Arab reaction to the Likud resolution is still being worked out, as it came only late last night. It however, seems very clear that while on one hand the Arabs are working on a strategy to somehow achieve peace with Israel, on the basis of equality and on the other the Israelis are resolute in using their military superiority to their maximum advantage before concluding any deal, if any, with the Palestinians and Arabs. In the process they are striving their best to extract maximum price from the Arabs.

Being the weaker side in the conflict, Arabs had to bare all their cards, including the possibility of full peace and recognition to Israel, accepting the presence of the Jewish state in their midst, if only Israel accepts to return to the pre-1967 boundaries. Israel, it is apparent, is not ready to pay, at least for the time being, even this much price for a sustainable peace in the region. Even the US despite all the coaxing, is still not openly resigned to the idea of pushing their Israeli friends accept this as a price for peaceful coexistence with their Arab neighbours.

It is not only an issue of peace, but at what cost? Arabs are ready for peace, as is evident through the Arab League Summit endorsement of the Saudi Peace Plan and the recent denouncement of violence as a tool at the Sharma-al-Sheikh Arab gathering. However, Israel wants peace at its own terms and that is the point of contention and the stumbling block between the warring parties.