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Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora: The Arab states are not seeking to wipe Israel off the map. (AP Archives)
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Siniora to Israel: Adopt Saudi peace plan, the only realistic path to peace
By Haaretz Service

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora called on Israel Friday to adopt the Saudi peace initiative that calls for normalized ties between Israel and the Arab world in return for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

In an opinion piece published Friday in The New York Times Siniora said that the Arab world is "not interested in wiping Israel off the map, but in achieveing legitimate goals of cease-fire, safe borders and the opportunity for all area residents to live in peace and security."

Siniora has declared in the past that Lebanon would be the last Arab nation to sign a peace agreement with Israel.
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"This is a high price but one the Arabs are willing to pay, as it is the only realistic path to peace," Siniora wrote.

Siniora slammed Israel for the Second Lebanon War, in which more than 1,200 Lebanese were killed. The war, he said, caused his country "an estimated $7 billion in damage and economic losses while leaving behind 1.2 million cluster bomblets that continue to kill and maim innocent people."

He said the war had "come dangerously close" to the threat by former Israeli military chief Dan Halutz to "turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years."

Siniora wrote that the Winograd committee, which harshly criticized Israel's handling of the war, had failed to come to the conclusion that "military action does not give the people of Israel security."

This conclusion, he said, "should be the impetus for Israel to seek a comprehensive solution based on the Arab Peace Initiative."

The month-long military operation by Israel was sparked by the July 12 cross border raid by Hezbollah that led to the abduction of two Israel Defense Forces reserve soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. It failed to return the soldiers, or halt the thousands of Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah at northern Israel.

The peace initiative "is a high price but one the Arabs are willing to pay, as it is the only realistic path to peace that conforms to all United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions addressing the conflict, and ensures the right of return of the Palestinian people," Siniora wrote.

"The Arab states are not seeking to wipe Israel off the map. Rather, we are seeking the legitimate goals of an armistice, secure borders and the ability of all of the region's people to live in peace and security."

Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Friday called the Saudi peace initiative, which is the basis for the current Arab Peace Initiative, an "historical declaration."

Peres met with a U.S. delegation in his Tel Aviv office on Friday. "This is the first time a king from a large Arab country - the Saudi king, Abdullah - decided to move from strategies of war to strategies of peace.

"If the Arab side comes with a declaration such as that of the Saudi king, Israel will willingly come with an offer for serious negotiations in order to find common ground. We must not let this opportunity pass," Peres said
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  1.   What`s He Talking About? Israel HAS Security 12:07  |  Yishai Kohen 11/05/07
  2.   dont cry 12:28  |  wa3ad asardik 11/05/07
  3.   HA! This coming from a man who cried on public TV.. 12:40  |  SLAVO 11/05/07
  4.   Let Lebanon grant citizenship to 300.00 pals kept in camps there 12:42  |  Absolute Sweden 11/05/07
  5.   MORE INTERESTINLY WHATS HIS PLAN FOR LEBANON?? 12:58  |  paul harris 11/05/07
  6.   Siniora 100% correct 12:59  |  John 11/05/07
  7.   Saudi Arabia makes telethons for Terror against Israel 13:15  |  Leftests are mad 11/05/07
  8.   Senioura and Olmert are not representatives 13:35  |  Lebanon 11/05/07
  9.   Siniora`s gov`t has terrorists in it. 13:39  |  Steven 11/05/07
  10.   Arabian peace plans are non-negotiable 13:40  |  Avi 11/05/07
  11.   John help us stop the occupation 13:43  |  Steven 11/05/07
  12.   being peaceful is.. 13:43  |  Avi 11/05/07
  13.   Siniora is 100% wrong 13:51  |  Brad 11/05/07
  14.   Lebanese: HEZBALLAH-NASRALLAH is your disaster 13:56  |  Vittorio 11/05/07
  15.   Saudi peace plan will win with or without Israel! 14:06  |  Ivar 11/05/07
  16.   What an idiot 14:08  |  Lubnani Yehudi 11/05/07
  17.   #1, your security is crumbling 14:10  |  VIPER 11/05/07
  18.   2 fair and critical questions 14:11  |  Lubnani Yehudi 11/05/07
  19.   Saudi Peace Plan 14:15  |  Richard Witty 11/05/07
  20.   Seniora, Saudi "Peace" Plan 14:18  |  Butch ben Yok 11/05/07
  21.   Either Accept It Or Israel Has No Future 14:25  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/05/07
  22.   Plan was declared DOA 14:25  |  Mark Lincoln 11/05/07
  23.   Amazing how he can write 900 odd words 14:28  |  Jenny 11/05/07
  24.   Take note of what he doesn`t say 14:35  |  Ilan 11/05/07
  25.   Please, remember Golda´s words, Israel! 14:37  |  Alicia 11/05/07
  26.   "This is a high price but one the Arabs are willing to pay," 14:44  |  Robert 11/05/07
  27.   Siniora`s crap 14:54  |  Brod 11/05/07
  28.   Saudi Initiative Nothing New 14:56  |  Sam Weinstein 11/05/07
  29.   ISRAEL has no other alternative except the Arab Initiative 15:02  |  lakshmi 11/05/07
  30.   Viper, you hate it that the wall stops the suicide bombs 15:03  |  The Equalizer 11/05/07
  31.   Peace, Shalom and Salam 15:03  |  A lebanese Druse 11/05/07
  32.   Mark Lincoln I know you are a Jew hater but 15:03  |  Steven 11/05/07
  33.   mistake in my last post 15:04  |  Steven 11/05/07
  34.   To Alicia 25 15:08  |  Sarah 11/05/07
  35.   Saudi Peace Initiative 15:09  |  Bruce 11/05/07
  36.   Alicia, your argument is no argument 15:11  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/05/07
  37.   Nice change of tone 15:13  |  ScotGuy 11/05/07
  38.   Seniora a popet 15:13  |  Amir 11/05/07
  39.   High Price to pay 15:15  |  Edward 11/05/07
  40.   #21 ISIAH SULLIVAN EXHORTS US ALL FROM 42ND ST 15:15  |  paul harris 11/05/07
  41.   Arab "high price"? 15:18  |  Paul Freedman 11/05/07
  42.   15 - Ivar 15:21  |  zionist forever 11/05/07
  43.   #21: not offered as an opener, Yaakov 15:21  |  Paul Freedman 11/05/07
  44.   #22: anti-Semitic delusion 15:25  |  Paul Freedman 11/05/07
  45.   Arab plans with Israel 15:27  |  Nephtaly 11/05/07
  46.   "This is a high price but one the Arabs are willing to pay," 15:36  |  Robert 11/05/07
  47.   poor little israel 15:41  |  saniora 11/05/07
  48.   TO: Amazing how he can write 900 odd words 15:44  |  arab 11/05/07
  49.   ellections in Israel will decide the futrure of the saudi plan 15:44  |  zionist forever 11/05/07
  50.   ellections in Israel will decide the futrure of the saudi plan 15:44  |  zionist forever 11/05/07
  51.   Brad is breathing fire and likes it #13 15:47  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/05/07
  52.   Israeli belligerance 16:02  |  MadridinNJ 11/05/07
  53.   High Price???????????????????/ 16:03  |  zellmad 11/05/07
  54.   Why Hezbollah is so strong in Lebanon 16:11  |  Anonymous 11/05/07
  55.   Letting Israel live in peace is a "high price"? 16:14  |  McQueen 11/05/07
  56.   Siniora`s article doesn`t mention Hezbollah or abductions 16:15  |  McQueen 11/05/07
  57.   The Israeli posters embrace violence and war over peace. 16:18  |  Ibrahim 11/05/07
  58.   #18 - Arabs are willing to do nothing for peace 16:22  |  McQueen 11/05/07
  59.   the arabs never expected their plan to go anywhere 16:25  |  zionist forever 11/05/07
  60.   To Steven 16:25  |  John 11/05/07
  61.   To Steven: first remove Israeli IIllegal Immigrants from WestBank 16:26  |  John 11/05/07
  62.   Alicia`s wisdom (Alicia #25) 16:28  |  Hanoman 11/05/07
  63.   To Lubnani Yehudi 16:28  |  John 11/05/07
  64.   WHAT A DEAL! 16:36  |  Jeff 11/05/07
  65.   Saudi plan is 4 Sinora 2 get peace 16:44  |  sam 11/05/07
  66.   The world should really listen to this gut (NOT!!!) 16:46  |  Dr. Dave 11/05/07
  67.   #20 no sacrifices allowed 16:46  |  abd 11/05/07
  68.   I take notice (Ilan #24) 16:49  |  Hanoman 11/05/07
  69.   to 18 response Lebanon is not the answer 16:50  |  Jmal 11/05/07
  70.   HUMAN RIGHTS 17:08  |  Sarah 11/05/07
  71.   Siniora 17:13  |  Chris 11/05/07
  72.   Making peace, the only real plan, not dicating Saudi WAR plant 17:17  |  David 11/05/07
  73.   #61 John - Finally we agree 17:25  |  * BEN JABO 11/05/07
  74.   #57 Ibrahim - It`s not a "Peace Plan" 17:30  |  * BEN JABO 11/05/07
  75.   ad David from Boston (#72) 17:32  |  Hanoman 11/05/07
  76.   The Arab murderers & terrorists tell Israel about security. Joke 17:37  |  Gary A., MD 11/05/07
  77.   Realistic Path to Peace: Annihilate Iran & Huzzy & Humus & Syria 17:41  |  Francois 11/05/07
  78.   #72 17:42  |  jamal 11/05/07
  79.   Who ever talk peace, will get always heavy shells from Israelies 17:49  |  Dvora 11/05/07
  80.   #63 John, you`re missing the point 17:58  |  * BEN JABO 11/05/07
  81.