Following a round of high-level meetings in the region, US Mideast envoy George Mitchell released an optimistic forecast for regional peace in the future. The American president’s envoy hopes to meet with many Arab leaders, to encourage them to take a step towards normalized relations with Israel in the future, commenting following a Cairo meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Espousing a more realistic scenario based on current realities was Arab League Secretary Amr Moussa, who said there will not be any steps forwards towards relations with Israel until all settlement construction is halted, placing the entire burden for the hostile relations on Israel.

Arab leaders have also stated previously that Israel will also have to withdraw to the indefensible pre-June 1967 borders to permit the establishment of Palestine with eastern Jerusalem as its capital for any diplomatic progress to become a future reality.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)