Netanyahu wants Arab states to take ‘steps’

jerusalem  |  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week urged Arab countries to make immediate moves toward normalizing ties with Israel and said he would offer “concrete” steps toward peace with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu made the plea May 27 during a debate in parliament that came as he tries to balance international pressure to make concessions to the Palestinians with internal calls from within his hard-line coalition not to budge.

“We are prepared to make, and we will make, concrete steps for peace with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu said. “We expect the Palestinians to make such concrete steps as well. And it would be good if Arab countries joined the peace effort and made concrete and symbolic steps toward normalization with Israel, not later, but now.”

He mentioned cooperation in economic projects and agriculture but insisted any progress would depend on positive Palestinian actions.

President Barack Obama supports the normalization idea, Netanyahu said, calling it a “new and refreshing” approach that “totally matches our views.”

Israel considers Iran a serious danger because of its nuclear program, development of long-range missiles and frequent references by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Israel’s destruction. Israel dismisses Iran’s insistence that its nuclear program is peaceful, charging that the Iranians are building nuclear weapons.

Obama has made clear that his administration supports the creation of a Palestinian state, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for a complete halt to construction in West Bank settlements.

Netanyahu’s policies clash with those of the United States on both of those points, raising concerns of a looming rift with Washington.

Netanyahu says he is willing to resume peace talks immediately, but has not said he supports the creation of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu also says existing settlements should continue to expand to accommodate “natural growth” in their populations. He also has ruled out ceding sovereignty in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the capital of a future state.

Senator Robert Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania heading a Congressional delegation visiting Israel, said May 27 that the administration’s policy over the settlements is still being formulated.

Though Obama called for a total construction freeze, Casey said, “I think there is a way to meet in the middle, and obviously the articulations and definitions are going to be important. It is too early to prejudge.”

Netanyahu did say that Israel will give up settlement outposts in exchange for U.S. support in dealing with the threat from Iran.

He told his Likud Party faction May 25 that Israel will have to accede to the demands of the United States to remove the West Bank outposts in order to focus its attention on the Iranian nuclear threat, according to Israeli news reports.

“I identify the danger, and that’s why I am willing to take unpopular steps such as evacuating outposts. The Iranian threat is above everything,” Netanyahu reportedly said. “There are things on which you have to compromise.”

Meanwhile, on a visit to Washington next week, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will tell U.S. officials that Israel will dismantle 26 West Bank outposts in the next few weeks, as long as natural growth construction is allowed to resume in existing settlements, Ynetnews reported.

Barak is scheduled to meet with Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Adviser James Jones.

JTA contributed to this report.