Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah has made a peace proposal that has everyone's attention. Even Sharon is paying lip service to it. Sharon's supporters on the right will never agree to it. It would mean dismantling the settlements which could bring about a civil war within Israel. There is a long way to go to get from Abdullah's plan to a peace agreement.

Analysis / Abdullah's proposal takes everyone by surprise

The peace initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah has breathed new life into Middle Eastern diplomacy which has been dormant for the last year. Instead of another plan for a cease-fire and for security arrangements on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the plan places the issue of a comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict back on the agenda.

Abdullah succeeded in surprising the key players in the diplomatic arena with his proposal, which he outlined to The New York Times correspondent Tom Friedman, and which includes recognition of Israel and full normalization of ties with the Arab world in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the territories.
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Solana: Sharon willing to discuss peace proposal with Saudis

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Tuesday after talks with Ariel Sharon that the prime minister was interested in the Saudi peace initiative and was prepared to discuss it with Saudi officials.

Sharon "considers it an interesting idea and he would like to know more about the content and he would be ready to meet anybody from Saudi Arabia, formally, informally, publicly, discreetly, whatever, to get better information about this initiative," Solana told reporters.
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Analysis / Nice idea but not a plan

The faster the initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah gathers momentum, so grow the doubts about the substantive questions that his proposal does not answer. On the positive side, the initiative opens a horizon that Israel has always sought: not only recognition of its existence and right to live in peace - as the Fahd plan proposed in 1981 - but full normalization. That is a strategic change in the Arab line and a new foundation in the official Arab position - if the initiative is approved by the Arab League summit in Beirut next month.

On the other hand, the initiative needs some more clarification, especially from other Arab countries. For example, it refers to Israel withdrawing from all the occupied territory, but makes no mention of the refugees. Without some form of solution to the refugee problem, Lebanon won't be able to accept the initiative because Beirut's main interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is how to get rid of 300,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon. And if Lebanon doesn't accept the initiative, Syria will not be able to accept it, so it will have a hard time getting through a summit where unanimity is required.
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