Israel ignores Iran’s support of Arab Peace Initiative – Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East

The leaders expressed support for an "Independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the borders of 4 June 1967," and reaffirmed their "Attachment to the just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution with east Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine consistent with the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative adopted by the Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference in 2005 as a strategic choice." According to their resolution, US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel thus violates "The foundations of the peace process that stipulate that City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif as a final status issue".

In addition to the protest against US President Donald Trump's controversial Jerusalem declaration, the leaders decided to ratify the OIC support for the Arab Peace Initiative, which promises normalization of ties with Israel in return for a withdrawal to its 1967 borders.

As of now, Iran is a signatory of a summit communique and detailed summit resolutions directly pertaining to two states – Israel and Palestine – as the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and declaring East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

The term "East Jerusalem" – as opposed to Israel's insistence on a united Jerusalem that includes its western and eastern sections – appears in the official summit documents no fewer than seven times.

Rouhani's support of the Arab Peace Initiative obviously does not stem from any special love for Israel.

The absurd expectation in Jerusalem that Saudi Arabia would open its gates to Israel, which locks the gates to a permanent peace agreement with the Palestinians, enables Iran for the moment to dance at two weddings: In the morning it tangoes with Hamas and Hezbollah and expresses reservations about the summit resolution, and in the evening it invites Abbas to visit Tehran.

In between, Rouhani takes time to condemn "Several states in our region aligned with the United States and the Zionists." The efforts that Israel invests in its occupation enterprise and in frittering away prospects for peace enable Iran to integrate into the Arab and Muslim club without paying Israel any membership dues.

According to the report, the committee's chairman Avi Dichter of the Likud Party refuted rumors about a rapprochement between Israel and moderate Arab states.

"Of course it's nonsense," Dichter reassured his listeners, "There's no alliance and nothing like it." It is no secret that in return for ties with pragmatic Arab states Israel would have to pay with territorial withdrawal, a currency not recognized by Israelis who vote for Dichter and company.

No one in Israel wasted time on the summit communique and on the Iranian support for the Arab Peace Initiative.

The prime time Channel 10 evening news led off on Dec. 28 with an exclusive report about "Dramatic diplomatic understandings" between Israel and the United States, designed to block Iranian expansion in the Middle East.

When an Islamic summit, in the presence of the president of Iran, declares recognition of Israel coexisting peacefully side by side with a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem is in no hurry to go anywhere.