Fast, tense diplomatic traffic for Middle East

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Middle East saw tense diplomatic traffic yesterday as Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Israel on the second and most sensitive leg of his regional tour while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Egypt on his first trip to the Arab world since he took office. Also yesterday, Jordan's King Abdullah has warned that failure to reach an agreement for peace in the Middle East will lead to a new conflict between Israel and the Arab world within 18 months.

In Jerusalem, Pope Benedict XVI called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian homeland immediately after he arrived in Israel yesterday, a stance that could put him at odds with his hosts on a trip aimed at improving ties between the Vatican and Jews.

In his first public comments upon arriving, Benedict urged Israelis and Palestinians to "explore every possible avenue" to resolve their differences. "The hopes of countless men, women and children for a more secure and stable future depend on the outcome of negotiations for peace," The Associated Press quoted him as telling a welcoming ceremony at Israel's international airport.

"In union with people of goodwill everywhere, I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties, so that both peoples may live in peace in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally recognized borders."

The pope also took on the delicate issue of the Holocaust, pledging to "honor the memory" of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide at the start of his five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"Sadly anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world. This is totally unacceptable," he said, reported Agence France-Presse .

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor played down the pope's comments, saying he was voicing a long-standing position shared by the U.S. and European countries. "At any rate, discussing this is not the purpose of the visit," he said. Parliament speaker Reuven Rivlin conspicuously skipped the airport ceremony, though his office said he would join the pope at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Netanyahu visits Cairo

While Benedict has spoken in favor of a Palestinian homeland in the past, the timing and location of his comments were noteworthy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in the audience, has pointedly refused to endorse the two-state solution since his election. But he is expected to come under pressure to do so when he travels to Washington next week. Netanyahu did not speak at the ceremony, then flew to Egypt for talks on regional issues with President Hosni Mubarak. In the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Netanyahu tried to secure the support of Israel's main Arab ally for its campaign to halt arch-foe Iran's nuclear drive, which the premier considers the main threat to Israel.

Netanyahu and Mubarak were also expected to broach Cairo's efforts to broker a new cease-fire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip in the wake of Israel's devastating war in December-January. Obama is expected to lay out the framework the deal when he visits Cairo for a major speech to the Muslim world next month.

King’s warning

Also yesterday, King Abdullah of Jordan has warned that failure to reach an agreement for peace in the Middle East will result in a new conflict within 12-18 months. In an interview for yesterday's edition of The Times newspaper in Britain, the king said the United States was putting the finishing touches to a "57-state solution" for peace. He warned that President Barack Obama's credibility would be damaged if he failed to broker a deal.

"If we delay our peace negotiations, then there is going to be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12-18 months," Abdullah said. The monarch singled out talks between Obama and Netanyahu in Washington as crucial in hammering out the plan, saying the world needed positive signs from the meeting.

"If there are no clear signals and no clear directives to all of us, there will be a feeling that this is just another American government that is going to let us all down. If the call is in May that this is not the right time or we are not interested, then the world is going to be sucked into another conflict in the Middle East."