CAIRO: Palestinian leaders won renewed Saudi support for Palestinian statehood on Wednesday but failed to persuade the Arab League to condemn last month’s normalisation deal between Israel and the UAE.
At a videoconference of foreign ministers, the Palestinian leadership softened its censure of the UAE over the US-brokered 13 August agreement..
“Discussions regarding this point were serious. It was comprehensive and took some time. But it did not lead in the end to agreement about the draft resolution that was proposed by the Palestinian side,” Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told reporters.
According to a Palestinian diplomatic source, the Arab League dropped the draft resolution condemning the controversial Israeli-UAE agreement.
Arab Peace Initiative
Palestine and Arab countries agreed to include an emphasis in the final communiqué on commitment to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, the two-state solution, and the land-for-peace principle, Palestinian Ambassador Muhannad Aklouk told local news agency Maan.
After a three-hour discussion, both Palestine and the Arab countries agreed not to include a clear condemnation of the UAE-Israel deal, he said.
Some Arab states, however, attempted to add some provisions to give a form of legitimacy to the normalisation agreement. He did not name the countries.
“In response, Palestine presented a draft resolution that condemns the UAE-Israel normalisation deal,” Aklouk said. “The Arab countries, however, voted down the draft.”
Palestinian call for rejection
Earlier on Wednesday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki called on Arab countries to reject the UAE-Israel normalisation deal.
“In the face of the UAE-Israeli normalisation agreement, it has become necessary for us to issue a position to reject this move,” he said. “Otherwise, our meeting will be considered as a blessing or being complicit with the normalisation,” he had said.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit stressed the Palestinian cause is and will continue to be the subject of Arab consensus and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative remains the road map for a just solution.
“The goal all our Arab countries seek, without exception, is to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he said in his speech at the 154th session of the Arab League.