Netanyahu rejected US peace plan in meeting with Arab leaders

Israeli opposition says history will judge the magnitude of an opportunity missed after report says Netanyahu met with King Adbullah of Jordan and the Egyptian president in February last year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 19, 2017. REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool

JERUSALEM // Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down a US-brokered regional peace initiative last year after secretly meeting with Arab leaders, an Israeli newspaper reported on Sunday.

Mr Netanyahu took part in the summit organised by the then secretary of state John Kerry in Aqaba last February and included Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

According to Haaretz, Mr Kerry proposed regional recognition of Israel as a Jewish state – a key Mr Netanyahu demand – alongside a renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians with the support of the Arab countries.

Mr Netanyahu rejected the offer, saying he would not be able to garner enough support for it in his hard-line coalition government, Obama administration officials said.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas did not attend the Aqaba meeting but was updated by Mr Kerry, Haaretz said.

The initiative was also the basis of short-lived talks with opposition leader Isaac Herzog to join the government, a plan that quickly unravelled when Mr Netanyahu chose to bring in nationalist leader Avigdor Lieberman instead and appoint him defence minister.

Mr Netanyahu’s rejection of the plan contradicts his own claim of wanting to involve regional powers in resolving Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians.

Mr Herzog tweeted on Sunday that “history will definitely judge the magnitude of the opportunity as well as the magnitude of the missed opportunity.”

Mr Netanyahu did not address the report in his weekly cabinet meeting and his office refused to comment.

Instead, the prime minister focussed on last week’s visit to Washington to meet Donald Trump. Mr Netanyahu called the meeting “historic” and one that strengthened the two countries’ longtime alliance. He said at the end of meeting, Mr Trump shook his hand and told him it was a “new day” in Israeli-American relations.

After eight years of testy ties with Barack Obama, Mr Netanyahu seems to be relishing Mr Trump’s warm embrace. The new president has broken from his predecessor in adopting friendlier positions to the Israeli government regarding a tough line on Iran, a vaguer stance on Palestinian statehood and a more lenient approach to settlements in the occupied West Bank. He has also promised to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to fortify Israel’s claim to the city as its capital, and appointed an ambassador with close ties to the settlement movement.

Mr Netanyahu said the two leaders see “eye to eye” on Iran and a host of other issues. “There is a new day and it is a good day,” he said.

In a joint press conference last week with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Trump offered unwavering support for Israel with the only hint of distance coming in his request of Mr Netanyahu to “hold off” on Jewish settlement construction on Palestinian land. Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday the sides have formed joint teams to coordinate settlement construction along with other issues.

In a striking departure from long-held American policy, Mr Trump also refrained from supporting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying he would defer to whatever solution the sides agreed upon.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, said he believed a Middle East peace push was possible. “My country stands ready together with other Arab countries to work and to see how we can promote that,” Mr Al Jubeir said.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, also at the Munich conference, said he supported the creation of a Palestinian state. “The end game is no doubt a two-state solution,” he said, adding a peace accord should be reached within a regional deal.

*Associate Press and Reuters