Yasser Arafat\'s Fatah rejects the Saudi Arabian peace proposal, revealing much about its own true intentions in the process. Saudi Arabia\'s Prince Abdullah said last week that he is in favor of fully normalized Arab-Israeli relations in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, including the Old City of Jerusalem. Fatah, however, questions Saudi Arabia\'s right to \"propose initiatives that give up the territories occupied since 1948... at a time when Palestinian Intifada and resistance are increasing and the \'enemy\' suffers a deep strategic crisis.\" The PLO also complains that the plan \"ignores the right of return for more than five million Palestinian refugees...\" Fatah thus shows that it has no intention of giving up \"the territories occupied since 1948,\" and that the current terrorism is aimed at causing the \"enemy\" a \"deep strategic crisis\" towards this end. The Oslo process concentrating on Judea and Samaria is thus shown to be merely a \"first stage\" before the realization of its goal to replace Israel entirely with a Palestinian state.
Israel, on the other hand, is flirting with the Saudi plan. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, following Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer\'s lead of yesterday, has responded positively to the Saudi plan. Peres said that Israel welcomes the initiative, and called for the opening of immediate negotiations regarding the proposal with no preconditions. “The entry of Saudi Arabia into the world of peace is important,” Peres said this morning, after his meeting with the Foreign Minister of the European Union, Javier Solana.
President Moshe Katzav also responded positively to the idea, inviting Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to visit Jerusalem and present his initiative to the government. Katzav paid a condolence visit this morning to the family of Druze Border Guard policeman Ahmed Mazarib, who was killed a week ago by a suicide bomber headed for an attack in Jerusalem. He said afterwards that he is prepared to meet with Saudi King Fahd in Riyadh if an invitation is proffered. Cabinet Secretary Gideon Sa’ar said today that while he doubts that any Israeli government could ever agree to such a withdrawal, the government views the proposal positively.
Israel, on the other hand, is flirting with the Saudi plan. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, following Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer\'s lead of yesterday, has responded positively to the Saudi plan. Peres said that Israel welcomes the initiative, and called for the opening of immediate negotiations regarding the proposal with no preconditions. “The entry of Saudi Arabia into the world of peace is important,” Peres said this morning, after his meeting with the Foreign Minister of the European Union, Javier Solana.
President Moshe Katzav also responded positively to the idea, inviting Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to visit Jerusalem and present his initiative to the government. Katzav paid a condolence visit this morning to the family of Druze Border Guard policeman Ahmed Mazarib, who was killed a week ago by a suicide bomber headed for an attack in Jerusalem. He said afterwards that he is prepared to meet with Saudi King Fahd in Riyadh if an invitation is proffered. Cabinet Secretary Gideon Sa’ar said today that while he doubts that any Israeli government could ever agree to such a withdrawal, the government views the proposal positively.