By Xinhua
Cairo : Arabs are preparing to strengthen efforts to reactivate its peace initiative with Israel, as Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and his Jordanian counterpart Abdul Ilah Khatib have just ended their first ever visit to Israel to seek Tel Aviv's positive response.
Abul Gheit and Khatib on Wednesday paid a visit to Israel for talks on the Arab Peace Initiative on behalf of the Cairo-based Arab League (AL), which was the first of its kind.
Abul Gheit told reporters on Thursday that his visit to Israel, along with Khatib, was paid upon an assignment by the AL's follow-up committee in implementation of the resolution adopted by 19th Arab summit in March in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Arab countries are making efforts to interact with Israel at the political level to get Tel Aviv to withdraw from the occupied lands and establish an independent Palestinian state on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, noted the Egyptian top diplomat.
According to Abul Gheit, the talks between the two Arab ministers and the Israeli side reflected that Tel Aviv was seeking to promote contacts with the Arab League in line with internal Israeli trends calling for facilitating the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israel realized that the key to solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was through setting up a viable Palestinian state, enhancing the capabilities of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and rehabilitating the Palestinian economy, said Abul Gheit.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has in fact noted that Israel would like to launch serious discussions on the Arab Peace Initiative with "an open heart and an open head".
He expected more visits to Israel by officials from other Arab states in order to discuss the Arab initiative, which trades full recognition of Israel by all Arab states in exchange for Israel's withdrawal from Arab lands to pre-1967 boundaries.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has also made it clear that Israel needs Arab support and it is only through a path of moderation that peace can be achieved.
She hailed what she called an "historic opportunity" for an establishment of Arab-Israeli relations, promising that Israel was determined to make progress in the peace process with the Palestinians.
Abul Gheit called on Israel to translate into action its desire to help the Palestinians and be open to the Palestinians and the Arabs in general.
He noted that the Arab action would depend on what Israel offer to the Palestinians, expressing belief that Israel's pullout from the occupied lands in preparation for establishing a Palestinian state would propel the Arabs to make a move towards Israel.
However, the challenge facing the Arabs and the Israelis now is how to transform the Arab Peace Initiative into something tangible that can energize the Israeli-Palestinian peace track, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
Although Abul Gheit and Khatib's visit to Israel was hailed as a very important step along the road to revive peace efforts in the Middle East, diplomats and experts here expect no quicker solution to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute.
Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Monzer al-Dijani told Xinhua that he would take into consideration of Israeli President Shimon Peres' remarks that peace cannot be achieved in one or two meetings.
He looks forward to a complete image on Abul Gheit and Khatib's visit as a report was being prepared to be delivered to an upcoming Arab foreign ministers meeting.
Abul Gheit stressed that he didn't expect a Palestinian state established tomorrow, and Egypt and Jordan are not being asked to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinians but helping both the Palestinians and the Israelis to negotiate among themselves.
An emergence meeting of Arab foreign ministers will be held on Monday on revival of the stalled Mideast peace process. More efforts are expected to be exerted in this regard after the Monday meeting, while U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to visit Egypt and hold talks with several Arab leaders next week.