Condemning Tel Aviv’s move, Qatar said it shockingly came right after the Palestinian Authority was given the green light by the Arab League to resume peace talks with Israel.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, told reporters: “The Israeli action must be met with a joint and fitting Arab response.”
He was speaking as head of the Arab Ministerial Committee for Follow-up on Peace Talks in the Arab League.
The Prime Minister expressed deep regret over the Israeli move to expand illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory while addressing a news conference jointly with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. Describing the situation as critical, he said he raised the issue with Moussa and added that this will be followed by meetings of Arab countries’ representatives to chart out a clear and appropriate response if the American mediator and Israel did not review the situation immediately.
“Over the past 20 years, we have gained vast experience with regard to peace talks with Israel. Although we had doubts about Israel’s seriousness vis-à-vis the peace process, the Arab ministerial committee had agreed to re-launch the peace initiative so as to give the American mediator a chance after it was found that he was keen to have peace in the region.
“We want the American mediator to reach the same conclusion which we reached 20 years ago since the Madrid talks,” said the Premier. Israel’s move to build the illegal housing units in Jerusalem is a hint to Arabs not to pin high hopes on peace talks, the Premier said. The Arab block is rather asking for the implementation of international resolutions, he added.
Moussa told the gathering: “The committee assigned to follow up the issue will meet this evening in Cairo to study the situation and issue a recommendation that will be debated at the ministerial level. Later, it will be referred to the forthcoming Arab Summit in Libya” Moussa added that the issue had entered a very serious stage as it raised many questions over the decision taken in Cairo last week. “We had not at all been convinced with the usefulness of any talks with Israel but the decision was rather directed to the United States as a mediator. But it seems that Israelis do not have enough influence with the mediator.
The matter would not be left without a radical treatment; Moussa said, adding: “Sheikh Hamad will make a number of contacts and I will personally make contacts that would contribute to forging a united Arab stance on such violations.” The Israeli decision to build more settlements is not acceptable in the light of the Arab decision to resume indirect talks with Israel taken during the meeting of the Arab ministerial committee set up to follow up the Arab peace initiative, thundered the Secretary-General.
