HAARETZ: U.S. special Mideast envoy George Mitchell has managed to obtain "pledges" from many Arab states for various steps toward normalization with Israel, some more significant and some less so, senior U.S. government officials told Haaretz on Sunday.
That is one of the main questions to which Israel is hoping to receive an answer when Mitchell arrives later this week or early next: what steps toward normalization the Arab states have agreed to take in exchange for a partial freeze in West Bank settlements.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office, the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry all said that Israel still does not have a clear picture of what quid pro quos Mitchell has managed to obtain in his talks with these states.
The U.S. officials also declined to specify which states had made these pledges. Saudi Arabia, which Washington had hoped would be one of them, has thus far refused to offer anything to Israel, though it has agreed to provide the Palestinian Authority with hundreds of millions of dollars to shore up its shaky financial situation.
"We've done our part," an associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's said on Sunday. "We decided to make an effort to facilitate the diplomatic process, but now we want to see that we will also get something in exchange."
According to the U.S. officials, some Arab states have agreed to let Israel open offices in their territory, others have agreed to grant visas to Israeli businessmen and tourists, and still others have offered to allow direct telephone connections between Israel and their countries. >>> Barak Ravid | Monday, September 09, 2009
