he Palestinian National Authority (PNA) said Sunday that Arabs should maintain the Arab peace initiative with Israel.
The Arab peace initiative "is still the strategic choice of the Arab League (AL)'s summit" that is wrapping up on Sunday in Libya, said Nabil Abu Rdineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. However, he added that the Palestinians "will be committed to any other option the summit takes."
A previous AL summit in 2002 had endorsed a Saudi-drafted initiative based on an Israeli withdrawal from all Arab and Palestinians lands that were occupied in 1967 in exchange for unanimous Arab recognition of the Jewish state.
Abu Rdineh said Arabs, at the same time, should make it clear to Israel that the peace initiative "will not remain on the table forever," adding that the U.S. administration, which tries to resume peace talks between Israel and the PNA, should also understand that.
Peace negotiations between Israel and the PNA stopped in December 2008 when Israel launched an assault on the Gaza Strip. Continued Jewish settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem hindered the resumption of the negotiations.
Front Page Features