Arabs, Israelis Must Change their Past for their Future

Former prime minister and current defence minister Ehud Barak told the media this week that Israeli leadership wanted to revive what is known as the Saudi peace plan to end its conflict with the Palestinians and Arab states.

Saudi Arabia had first unveiled the peace initiative at the Beirut Arab League summit in 2002 in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US. The Saudi plan was subsequently endorsed and supported by both Arab League and the Islamic bloc as well as backed by other international bodies.

It offers pan-Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for the Jewish withdrawal from Arab lands captured in 1967 and return of Palestinians in exile for decades. Even though the plan does not fully address the original demands and aspirations of Palestinian people, it is perhaps the most comprehensive and realistic peace initiative ever put forward in the long and troubled history of Arab-Israel conflict.

If anyone could have really persuaded the Palestinians and Arabs to accept the proposed accord and ensured its implementation, it’s Saudi Arabia. Thanks to its geopolitical and religious eminence, it’s widely respected and regarded in the greater Middle East and Muslim world.

Which is why it’s such a shame that Israel failed to respond to the Saudi initiative and exploit the historic opportunity for lasting peace offered by the Arabs all these years.

So what makes Israelis suddenly pine for the Saudi mediation now, after nearly six years? It may have something to do with the change of guard in Israel. Ehud Olmert, Ariel Sharon’s successor, who held endless meetings and negotiations with the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for the past couple of years without anything to show, has stepped down following a corruption scandal. His successor Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is seen as a ‘moderate’ (in a party founded by a hawk like Ariel Sharon) and someone who is keen to clinch a deal with the Palestinians. According to Israeli commentators, Livni is different from regulation Israeli politicians and all her predecessors.

Let’s hope they are right. And let’s hope she indeed does have the courage and resolve to make the necessary and possibly unpopular choices and decisions to make peace with the Palestinians. Shimon Peres, Israeli president and the last of the old guard, first proposed putting peace talks back on the track last month at the United Nations, calling on Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to “further his initiative.” He has since been pushing the idea in meetings with Israeli, Arab and Western officials.

As we write this, Peres is holding talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on the plan and how the two sides can carry forward the dialogue in accordance with the Saudi plan.

Goes without saying these are promising signs. And even though the history of Arab-Israel engagement does not offer you much hope, let’s hope the Arab and Israeli leaders will finally be able to change this history. They must act now to spare the region more bloodshed and protect their people’s future.