Israeli Cabinet Secretary Gideon Sahar said the Saudi peace proposal, which calls for Israel to withdraw to its 1967 borders was a precondition unacceptable to Israel, though the Cabinet made no formal decision at its weekly meeting on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has not commented on the Saudi proposal, said only that he wanted to see more details. The initiative, floated last month by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in a New York Times interview, envisages full political, economic and cultural relations between the Arabs and Israel in return for the latter’s withdrawal from all Arab lands it occupied in the 1967 war.
In the past, Sharon has repeatedly ruled out a return to the 1967 borders, though he has not formally rejected the Saudi plan. Sahar told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that the Saudi provision on the withdrawal to the prewar lines was unacceptable as a starting point for negotiations, according to AP.
"We will not be able to accept, in principle, something dictated before negotiations," he said. "The frontier, in the whole area, will be determined only by negotiation."
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, both from the center-left Labor party, have said that the Saudi plan had positive elements and should be explored. However, hard-liners in Sharon's coalition have dismissed it out of hand.
The Israeli government has not indicated when, or if, it will take a formal position on the Saudi proposal. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
