Report: Arab countries refuse US request to normalize ties with Israel

**Chris** · July-29th-2009, 06:38 PM

Report: Arab countries refuse US request to normalize ties with Israel | Headlines | Jerusalem Post

Report: Arab countries refuse US request to normalize ties with Israel
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Arab states have expressed reservations over a US request that they make initial steps towards normalizing their relations with Israel so as to encourage Jerusalem to freeze West Bank construction, according to Arab diplomatic sources quoted by the London-based Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday. According to the report, Arab leaders that were approached by the Americans were of the opinion that the time was not yet ripe for warmer relations with Israel.

US Mideast envoy George Mitchell has been trying to persuade Arab leaders to act so that the Israeli government does not feel that it is the only regional player that has come under pressure from Washington. The report came two days after the White House announced that it had asked several Arab countries to engage in confidence-building measures with Israel in order to encourage the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

**Chris** · July-29th-2009, 06:43 PM

Obama begins pressuring Arab leaders on deal with Israel
By Nathan Guttman

WASHINGTON - Freezing the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was once seen as a unilateral Israeli obligation. But the Obama administration is now treating this as part of a package that will require concessions from Arab states as well. An intensified and more public focus on this idea appears to be one of the byproducts of U.S. President Barack Obama's July 13 pledge to American Jewish communal representatives to address perceptions that he is pressuring only Israel.

So far, the Arabs have been resistant. Still, in the wake of Obama's White House meeting with the Jewish delegation, Israeli, American and Arab leaders have, to varying degrees, shifted their rhetoric in ways that reflect acceptance of a new principle of reciprocity. "The Americans now understand that if they get anything from us on the settlement issue, it will only be in the broader context of some kind of Arab return," said an Israeli diplomat, echoing other similar comments from Israeli officials recently. The official added that talks between U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have focused on components of a two-sided deal that will include both a settlement freeze and reciprocal steps by Arab countries. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to confirm this in a policy speech two days after Obama's White House meeting with the Jewish representatives.

more..............Obama begins pressuring Arab leaders on deal with Israel - Haaretz - Israel News

**Chris** · July-29th-2009, 06:53 PM

Saudi Arabia Rejects US Call for Israel Overtures - News Briefs - Israel National News

Saudi Arabia Rejects US Call for Israel Overtures
Reported: 20:50 PM - Jul/29/09

(IsraelNN.com) Saudi Arabia rejected U.S. calls for diplomatic overtures toward Israel on Wednesday, blaming settlement expansion with jeopardizing efforts to revive peace talks. "It is Israel that has to move seriously towards the peace process," Saudi foreign ministry spokesman Osama Nugali told AFP. "As we all know, Israel is continuing to take unilateral measures by changing the geographic and demographic facts on the ground, by building settlements and expanding the existing ones.” Nugali said that Israeli settlement expansion “on occupied Arab land continues to impede any progress toward a lasting two-state solution between the Palestinians and Israelis.”