SIRTE, Libya, (Reuters) – Arab states should prepare for the possibility that the Palestinian-Israeli peace process may be a total failure and come up with alternatives, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said yesterday.
The troubled peace process suffered a setback this month when the Palestinians said indirect talks with the Israelis would not take place unless Israel cancelled a decision to build 1,600 new homes in a settlement near east Jerusalem.
Underscoring the obstacles to reviving negotiations, two Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian were killed in a clash in the Gaza strip on Friday, the bloodiest fighting in the enclave in 14 months.
Moussa did not say what the alternatives to the peace process might be, but one option is to revive an eight-year-old initiative under which Arab states would normalise ties with the Jewish state in exchange for Israeli concessions on territory.
Others are for the Palestinians unilaterally to declare a state, or to propose a single binational state for Israelis and Palestinians.
Speaking to leaders at an Arab League summit in the Libyan town of Sirte, Moussa said a fresh approach was needed.
