In his keynote address at the opening session of the interfaith conference held in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Israeli President Shimon Peres called on King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, to meet in Jerusalem or Riyadh, or to travel back to Kazakhstan, where they, along with other Arab leaders, could discuss Israeli-Arab peace.
Addressing the audience, Peres said, “Together with all the Arab leaders, we can realize your vision, our vision and the vision of all the leaders and all the believers in our shared goal of peace and justice.”
“We are aware of the big change which has occurred in the positions of a majority of Arab countries toward peace with Israel, a transition from the ‘Three Nos of Khartoum—no negotiation, no recognition, no peace—to the three ‘yeses of the Saudi initiative,’” he added.
King Abdullah presented the Saudi initiative, or the ‘Arab peace initiative,’ in 2002 which calls for the recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, in the West Bank and Gaza.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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