Are we getting any closer to Middle East Peace?

Israel-based blogger M.J. Rosenberg discusses The Saudi Plan at TPM Cafe.

First his summary of what the plan offers:

In exchange for Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories, the entire Arab world would establish normalized relations with Israel. This is a far better deal than the original "land for peace" idea because it establishes peace not only with the Palestinians but with every single Arab country. And not just peace either, but fully normalized relations.

So what does this really mean? As Rosenberg writes:

Israeli and Palestinians negotiate a deal based on United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338, the Roadmap, etc., and, as soon as the two sides reach agreement, Israeli will be granted recognition and normalization by the entire Arab world.

Since the Israelis and the Palestinians have to forge the first agreement in the peace plan, Rosenberg suggests that the parties begin as soon as possible - they don't need Saudi involvement to start this process.

Rosenberg says Israel also doesn't have to hammer out the details with Hamas present (which is fortunate as it is still calling for the destruction of Israel) because under the Mecca Agreement (also brokered by the Saudis), Hamas agreed to allow President Abbas to be the representative of the Palestinians.

While Rosenberg acknowledges that there are plenty of, as he says, "skeptics [who] insist that the plan is a take-it-or-leave-it offer," in his view, "the Arabs intend there be negotiations over the plan and that it is not some kind of diktat."

To make his case he cites the argument put forth by a former Shin Bet expert on the Palestinians, Mati Steinberg. As he writes:

It is hard for Steinberg to understand how serious people can argue that anyone is expecting Israel to withdraw from the territories without conducting detailed negotiations on borders, security arrangements, the holy sites and so on. According to him, the absence of a demand to evacuate the Jewish settlements in the territories, for example, is not by chance. It is clear to the Arabs that the way to an agreement passes through the negotiating table.

Then he quotes no less an authority than King Abdullah of Jordan seems:

That is precisely what King Abdullah of Jordan told IPF at a meeting at his Amman palace this week. He told us that arguing about the details of the plan is pointless because, essentially, there are no details. The plan is simply a framework, every aspect of it is negotiable. The point, he said, is to get to serious negotiations.

You should read the article to see what he says about the sticky right to return issue, but I'll post his conclusion here:

Any agreement Israel reaches with the Palestinians (or any other Arabs) will be just that: an agreement mutually agreed upon. Claiming to object to negotiations because they might produce an unacceptable result is a bogeyman. It takes two signatures to make an agreement and one of them will have to be Israel's.

Those who oppose any agreement between Israelis and Palestinians should just say so. These tired excuses have become utterly transparent.