Jordan expressed displeasure on Wednesday with Israel's reaction to a Jordanian-Egyptian initiative to end the escalating situation in the Palestinian areas, and said it will accept no Israeli modifications to the joint proposal, reported the Jordan Times newspaper on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters during a weekly press briefing, Jordan’s Minister of Information Taleb Rifai said that despite the Israeli stand, Jordan would continue its efforts to garner international support for the initiative, which has been accepted by the Palestinians and received backing from the US, European Union, United Nations, Japan, and Russia.
“Jordan and Egypt are extremely displeased with the Israeli reaction, and we believe that Israel should have accepted the initiative's terms in word and spirit without any modification,” Rifai said.
“The Jordanian-Egyptian position with regard to this initiative is one position... any modification will dilute the initiative and will render it meaningless,” the minister said.
On Monday and Tuesday, King Abdullah visited France and Austria to lobby for the joint initiative.
Both French President Jacques Chirac and Austrian President Thomas Klestil applauded the initiative.
The Jordanian-Egyptian plan calls for a series of confidence-building measures, including a pullback of Israeli troops to positions held before the Intifada broke out on Sepember 28, a freeze on settlement construction and renewed security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority.
After initially dismissing the plan, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed guarded optimism that some form of accord might be reached, even though the plan as it stands contains proposals he has already rejected.
Sharon rejects a freeze on building in the Jewish settlements on the Palestinian territories and a resumption of peace negotiations from where they left off in October without a signed agreement, said the paper.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres visited Egypt and Jordan earlier this month to present his country's formal response to the plan, which the Palestinians want implemented without changes – Albawaba.com
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