Report: Israeli leader turned down regional peace initiative

An Israeli newspaper reported today that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down a regional peace initiative last year that was brokered by then-American Secretary of State John Kerry, in apparent contradiction to his stated goal of involving regional powers in resolving Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
Haaretz reported that Netanyahu took part in a secret summit that Kerry organized in the southern Jordanian port city of Aqaba last February and included Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
According to the report, which cited anonymous Obama administration officials, Kerry proposed regional recognition of Israel as a Jewish state - a key Netanyahu demand - alongside a renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians with the support of the Arab countries. Netanyahu reportedly rejected the offer, saying he would not be able to garner enough support for it in his hard-line coalition government.

The initiative was also reportedly the basis of short-lived talks with opposition leader Isaac Herzog to join the government, a plan that quickly unraveled when Netanyahu chose to bring in nationalist leader Avigdor Lieberman instead and appoint him defense minister.
Herzog tweeted today that "history will definitely judge the magnitude of the opportunity as well as the magnitude of the missed opportunity."
A former top aide to Kerry confirmed that the meeting took place secretly on Feb. 21, 2016. According to the official, Kerry tried to sweeten the 15-year-old "Arab Peace Initiative," a Saudi-led plan that offered Israel peace with dozens of Arab and Muslim nations in return for a pullout from territories captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Among the proposed changes were Arab recognition of Israel as the Jewish state, a key Netanyahu demand, recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, another key Netanyahu demand, as long as it recognized Palestinian claims to a capital "in Jerusalem" as well, and softened language on the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees to lost properties in what is now Israel, the former official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was still not authorized to discuss the secret meeting publicly, said the Egyptian and Jordanian leaders reacted positively to the proposal, while Netanyahu refused to commit to anything beyond meetings with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"We saw it as building on, or updating, but certainly not superseding" the 2002 Arab initiative, he said.
Netanyahu himself did not address the report in his weekly Cabinet meeting and his office refused to comment. Instead, the prime minister focused on last week's visit to Washington to meet new President Donald Trump.