Saudi peace offer tantalizes Israel

JERUSALEM -- Israel said Monday it is exploring with interest a tentative Saudi proposal that calls for an Israeli pullout from virtually all the territories it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war in return for comprehensive peace.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has fiercely opposed a total pullout. But he knows Israelis are despondent over 17 months of dead-end conflict and eager for a ray of hope. The Saudi proposal offers two things Israel craves: Broad acceptance by Arab states and a negotiating partner beyond Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

However, any discussion of significant concessions to Palestinians could undermine Sharon's governing coalition -- a patchwork of parties with widely divergent positions on the land-for-peace idea.

The Palestinians and moderate Arabs have welcomed the Saudi idea, and Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday it was an important step he hoped would be fleshed out in the next few weeks.

Sharon's spokesman, Raanan Gissin, told The Associated Press on Monday that Israel was "trying to find out through the United States and other sources ... if this is a real proposal."

"If indeed a reasonable offer is presented ... that will guarantee not just that Israel gives back territory but that real, true normalization will develop -- I think you can restore the confidence in peace because most of the people want peace," Gissin said.

Tangled situation

Trying to build momentum, Israel's President Moshe Katsav said Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah -- who floated the proposal in a recent interview with The New York Times -- should come to Israel for talks, or alternatively receive him in Riyadh.

However, Katsav has a mainly ceremonial role, and the real power rests with Sharon. When Katsav wanted to address the Palestinian parliament recently, Sharon blocked the plan. In any case, Saudi Arabia has refused to have any contact with Israel while its dispute with the Palestinians remains unresolved.

One possibility being discussed was for the Saudis to raise the proposal at next month's Arab League summit in Lebanon, but Palestinian officials said they were assured that would not happen unless Israel ended Arafat's three-month confinement to the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Details of the Saudi proposal remained sketchy.

Gideon Meir, a top Foreign Ministry official, said the prime concern was whether a possible deal would include not just Palestinian but Arab League endorsement.