Arab League Secretary, Amr Mousa, stated Saturday that any normalization with Israel is unlikely unless peace is achieved.
Arab League Secretary, Amr Mousa, stated Saturday that any normalization with Israel is unlikely unless peace is achieved. Mousa was speaking to London radio, in response to the latest statements by the Israeli officials regarding the Arab peace initiative.
The high-profile Arab official hailed the latest Arab state summit’s renewal of their 2002 peace offer to the Israeli state, which calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories in return for normal relations with Israel.
Mousa stressed that the Israeli response to the offer is not workable as any negotiations with Arab states can not be initiated before peace is achieved. Israel dismissed the possibility of reaching peace in the short term but expressed willingness to negotiate with what it called ‘moderate Arab states’.
Since 1991, Israel and Arab countries have been engaged in peace talks that have only produced unilateral peace deals with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Peace on the Syria and Lebanese tracks is yet to be reached at a time when Israel still occupies the Syrian Golan Heights, maintains control over parts of Lebanon, expands settlements in the West Bank and controls Gaza’s crossing points, sea and airspace.
