“Between Tehran and Jerusalem”
With the world once again focused on the process of Arab- Israeli reconciliation and hopefully, one day, peace, we’d like to take a moment to recommend a recently published contextual piece in HAARETZ (see below). Written by David Govrin, director of the Islam department at the diplomatic planning division of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the article offers a birds eye view of the current round of talks, declarations, and rapprochements within the framework of the entire region in the hopes of giving the expert and novice alike a comprehensive perspective in which to follow along. Perhaps all the ducks are beginning to line-up in what could be an opportunistic row and we may be on the verge of a new Arab-Israeli relationship. Let us hope that this is indeed the case.
From Haaretz:
Between Tehran and Jerusalem
By David Govrin
The visit to Israel last week by the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, coming as official representatives of the Arab League, was a historic event. The visit, which was the first time that such a delegation had met with members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, was aimed at advancing the Arab peace initiative and creating momentum that would enable the sides to move toward implementation of the vision of two states, Israeli and Palestinian, living side by side in peace.
What began as the Saudi initiative, when it was first published in 2001 and adopted by all of the members of the Arab League, is the first peace proposal in the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict to have been proposed by the Arab League countries. Until recently, it did not seem to be on its way to implementation, in part because Israel did not see in it a proper a basis for negotiations. Now though, it may be on track, after the Arab collective created for the first time, at the Riyadh summit in March, a mechanism for dialogue with Israel in the context of the initiative. The two foreign ministers visited Israel against the background of a new geo-strategic reality, which is characterized by increasing Iranian involvement in the region.
Like
