The Cairo-based Arab League(AL) said Monday that conditions set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a Palestinian state were "disabling" and Netanyahu made "a proposal to be refused."
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv, June 14, 2009. Netanyahu Sunday night called on the Palestinians to resume Middle East peace talks without preconditions and presented three conditions for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. [Pool-Baz Ratner/Xinhua]
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"Arabs would not make concessions regarding issues of Jerusalem and refugees," AL spokesman Abel-Halim el-Abiad told Xinhua, adding that they would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
"I think that no one in the Arab World was surprised by Netanyahu's speech because we know his history and style of evasion," he said.
On the other hand, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Monday that Netanyahu's speech complicated the situation and throttled peace hopes in the region.
Netanyahu declared on Sunday evening that he was prepared to see the establishment of a Palestinian state, so long as the international community could guarantee it did not have any military capabilities.
"Israel can not agree to a Palestinian state unless it gets the guarantee that it is demilitarized," said the Israeli prime minister who took office in late March, adding that Palestinians must accept Israel as a Jewish state.
"When Palestinians are ready to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, we will be ready for a true final settlement," he said, emphasizing that the Jewish people have been linked to the land of Israel for over 3,000 years and ruling out the option of granting Palestinians refugees the right to settle within Israeli borders.
Mubarak, who attended a ceremony of the army's Special Forces on Monday, said in his address that "the proposal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state further complicates the situation", adding that "the Middle East would be a scene of unrest if there is no comprehensive peace."
He stressed that "the solution to the major problems of the Arab and Islamic worlds is through Jerusalem."
"Netanyahu's call for changing the Arab (Peace) Initiative and dropping the refugees' right to return, would not receive support from Egypt or elsewhere," Mubarak said.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Israeli prime minister's view which is "not complete" needs to be "developed".
"Egypt hopes to hear different Israeli proposal which is built on the commitment to the two-state solution," it said.
Furthermore, Jordan on Monday expressed disapproval against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call for the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state in his Sunday speech.
The ideas presented by Netanyahu did not live up to what was agreed on by the international community as a starting point for achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region, Nabil Sharif, Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and government spokesperson, said in a statement.
