Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he was ready to “treat seriously” a dormant Saudi initiative calling for a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Arab world in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Middle East War. The Arab League is expected to discuss the Saudi initiative, first proposed in 2002, at a summit later this month in Riyadh. Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel is following developments in the Arab world “with the utmost attention” and noted “positive developments” among moderate Arab countries.
“We have said more than once that the Saudi initiative is a matter which we would be ready to treat seriously and we have not altered our position,” he said. “We hope very much that at the meeting of heads of Arab states to take place in Riyadh, the positive elements expressed in the Saudi initiative will be revalidated and will perhaps improve the chances of negotiation between us and the Palestinian Authority.”