An Arab Initiative That Can Work

LONDON: The Arab summit meeting in Riyadh this month promises a unique opportunity to invigorate the quest for peace. The gaps between Israel and the Arabs have never been narrower. The international Quartet — the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations — must seize the moment and act swiftly to make a breakthrough.

With the threat of sectarian conflict spreading beyond Iraq, Palestinian infighting and political stalemate in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia has been galvanized into action. Following deft diplomacy on all three fronts, the Saudis intend to use the meeting to re-launch the Arab Peace Initiative, first developed at the Beirut summit in 2002.

Crucially, the Israelis are taking favorable notice. While Israeli and Saudi strategic interests are not the same, Israel is clearly intrigued by the initiative's potential. Prime Minister Olmert appears intent on trying to advance the peace agenda, as he promised the Israeli electorate one year ago. The Israeli public will not support unilateralism any more, and thus Olmert needs a partner. Though the new Palestinian national unity government still does not meet Olmert's requirements to fill that role, the emergence of an Arab consensus on the peace issue suggests an alternative opening.

Israel's war with Hezbollah last summer and significant changes in the region's political landscape have increased the risks, but also the opportunities, for the Israelis and Arabs to reshape their relations.

Iraq, Lebanon and the deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories have become interlocking crises. For fear of further deterioration, the Iraqis have managed to engage all their neighbors, along with the United States, in talks on how to restore some semblance of order there.

The Saudis are mediating in the standoff between Hezbollah and the government of Fouad Seniora in an effort to rescue Lebanon from paralysis while keeping Syria at bay. Saudi success in persuading the rival Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah to join forces in a unity government has prevented a civil war.

We have had the opportunity to engage intensively with Israelis, Jordanians, Egyptians, Saudis and Lebanese over the past three months, and we discern a real appetite to move forward in the peace process. What is needed, therefore, is for the international community to add its weight to the momentum. The meeting in Riyadh provides the opportunity to move boldly on several tracks.

First, immediately after the summit, the Quartet should convene a meeting of senior officials, representing the Arab states, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The PLO remains the official Palestinian party for negotiations and agreements with Israel. It is chaired by Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, and it does not include Hamas as a constituent member organization. The goal of the meeting is to start talking about the Arab peace initiative, the options it opens up and the steps needed to move toward negotiations.

Second, the new peace effort will need to clarify the endgame of a permanent settlement. Israelis and Palestinians need to see where the process is heading in order to enable Israel and Palestine, to live side by side in peace and security.

The Quartet also must establish a comprehensive regional approach involving Syria, Lebanon, the PLO and Israel in the effort to achieve Arab-Israel peace. Any new diplomacy cannot be limited to Israelis and Palestinians, but must further encourage Arab states to assist in ending the conflict.

These initial steps and this new basis for diplomacy reflect what we have heard from Arabs and Israelis. They encapsulate core elements that need to be present to bring on board the Arab and Israeli publics. Now is not the time to try to establish detailed conditions for peace making; now is the time for convening exploratory discussions on a sound, new basis.

Israeli concerns about elements of the Arab initiative can be expected to surface in the talks. What is important is that the Arabs have taken an historic step in unifying their views. The key is to adopt a regional approach to Arab-Israeli peace making, leaving behind the moribund bilateral efforts of the past.