“Israel… must realise that the choice between war and peace cannot be open-ended, and that the initiative will not remain forever on the table.”
The initiative calls for a full normalisation of relations between Arab states and Israel in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Arab land, the creation of a Palestinian state and an “equitable” solution for Palestinian refugees.
The Saudi-inspired plan was presented at an Arab summit in 2002, and relaunched in 2007 and again at a summit in Damascus last year. Israeli leaders have spoken of the “positive aspects” of the Arab initiative but it was never formally endorsed by the Jewish state, which deems unacceptable a clause calling for the return of Palestinian refugees.
Prince Saud also slammed Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and its blockade of the Gaza Strip. “Peace, stability and development are linked and one cannot be achieved without the other,” he said.
