NETANYAHU SAID NO TO SECRET U.S. PLAN FOR PEACE
JERUSALEM • Israel’s prime minister turned down a regional peace initiative last year that was brokered by then-American Secretary of State John Kerry, former U.S. officials confirmed Sunday, in apparent contradiction to his stated goal of involving regional Arab powers in resolving Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu took part in a secret summit Kerry organized in the Jordanian city of Aqaba and included Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
According to two former Obama administration officials, Kerry proposed regional recognition of Israel as a Jewish state — a key Netanyahu demand — alongside a renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians with the support of the Arab countries. Netanyahu rejected the offer, which would have required a significant pullout from occupied land, saying he would not be able to garner enough support for it in his coalition government.
The initiative also appeared to be the basis of short-lived talks with moderate opposition leader Isaac Herzog to join the government, a plan that quickly unravelled when Netanyahu chose to bring in nationalist leader Avigdor Lieberman instead and appoint him defence minister. Herzog tweeted Sunday that “history will definitely judge the magnitude of the opportunity as well as the magnitude of the missed opportunity.”
A former top aide to Kerry confirmed the meeting took place secretly on Feb. 21, 2016.
According to the official, Kerry tried to sweeten the 15-year-old “Arab Peace Initiative,” a Saudi-led plan that offered Israel peace with dozens of Arab and Muslim nations in return for a pullout from territories captured in the 1967 Mideast war to make way for an independent Palestine.
Among the proposed changes were Arab recognition of Israel as the Jewish state, recognition of Jerusalem as a shared capital for Israelis and Palestinians, and softened language on the “right of return” of Palestinian refugees to lost properties in what is now Israel, the former official said.
The official said the Egyptian and Jordanian leaders reacted positively to the proposal, while Netanyahu refused to commit to anything beyond meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
A second former official said other Gulf Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, along with the Palestinians, were also consulted. The official said opposition inside Netanyahu’s hard-line government, dominated by nationalists opposed to Palestinian independence, presented a formidable obstacle. But he said the Arab partners also showed varying degrees of enthusiasm, with the Palestinians most concerned about concessions forced on them.
Netanyahu did not address the report Sunday.
HISTORY WILL DEFINITELY JUDGE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE OPPORTUNITY.