Egypt to press deal on Middle East 'final status'PDFPrintE-mail
Israel
Written by Chris Perver  
Tuesday, 09 January 2007 17:00
Egypt and Jordan have announced their intentions to press for an agreement with Israel on "final status" issues, before the full implementation of the "Roadmap to Peace". The announcement comes just days before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to travel to the Middle East to continue the push for peace. The Egyptian proposal appears to be a compromise with the Saudi initiative, which promises normalization of relations with Israel after a complete withdrawal to 1967 borders.

Quote: "For the past few years, peace moves have concentrated on trying to bring about small confidence-building measures, leaving aside bigger questions such as the borders of a future Palestinian state or the fate of Palestinian refugees. The Egyptian campaign for a rethink, backed to some extent by Jordan, has made little difference to the policies of the United States, which continues to propose short-term measures by Israelis and Palestinians. Aboul Gheit added: "The endgame has its specific concepts... Let's agree on the frameworks of the (peace) settlement. This is the Egyptian position."

Israeli President Ehud Olmert had previously stated his intention of drawing the West Bank border himself, if the Palestinians failed to implement their side of the roadmap document. His goal for final status borders was the year 2010. But the international community made it clear that no border would be recognized without agreement from the Palestinians. President Abbas has stated he is not prepared to give away as much as an inch of land outside the 1967 borders, and Hamas has stated they are not prepared to give away an inch of anything. While our friend Olmert has stated he is prepared to give up many, many lands

I can't help but think what has created all this conflict. It's not Israel, for Israel was prepared to abide by the UN plan to partition Palestine. Rather, Palestinians were forced to flee Israel and the territories after their Arab neighbours declared war on Israel. No Arab nation was willing to give the Palestinians a home then. The nation was delivered by God from her enemies, and Israel occupied territories in order to improve its security situation. It seems to me that it should be Israel dictating the terms of peace, not the Arab nations. But then all this is happening according to God's plan, so that Israel will be brought back to their true Messiah, and that God will be glorified in the sight of all men.   

Source Reuters

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