Olmert Invites Arabs To Jerusalem for Talks

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, warming to a Saudi peace initiative, issued a surprise invitation Sunday to Arab leaders to meet with him in Jerusalem and exchange ideas for settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He also said he would join moderate Arab leaders and the Palestinian Authority president for the same purpose if King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia were to convene such a summit.

“I think it is time to make a momentous effort in order to give a push to the diplomatic process,” Olmert said at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

There was no immediate reaction from Arab leaders….

This piece in The Washington Post is clearly written after the Asharq Alawsat op-ed by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed cited below. The glory of time zones, I guess…

This invitation promptly puts the ball back in the Arab court. If they wish to negotiate, they need to meet and talk, after all. But it also puts several Arab governments in a tight spot. Many Arab countries are still in a technical state of war with Israel, even if they may not have conducted military action within the past 50 years. And because they have no diplomatic relations with Israel (one of the plums being held out as the fruit of successful negotiation), they will have to give some sort of recognition to Israel in order to reach full recognition.

It will be interesting to see the response….

Well, the response isn’t taking long.

The New York Times runs this Reuters piece online: Olmert Offer for Arab Talks Draws Skeptical Response

and The Jerusalem Post has this: Syria, PA boo PM’s call for joint summit