Lebanese Premier Fouad Saniora in an op-ed piece published Friday in The New York Times urged Israel to work for a Middle East settlement based on an Arab peace initiative, and said the U.S. can help the parties compromise.
Saniora also criticized an Israeli inquiry into last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah for failing to address the huge losses and damage inflicted on Lebanon by Israel's massive bombardment. "The July war proved that militarism and revenge are not the answer to instability; compromise and diplomacy are," Saniora wrote. "This should be the impetus for Israel to seek a comprehensive solution based on the Arab Peace Initiative."
With the U.S. support and that of other international partners, "we hope to use the Arab Peace Initiative as the foundation to finally bring about a comprehensive peace to our troubled region," Saniora wrote.
"Leading these peace efforts is not only an American responsibility, it is in the United States' interests: Peace in the Middle East would offer a gateway to reconciliation with the Muslim world during these times of increased divisiveness and radicalism," he wrote in the article.
Saniora said that Arabs, too, have legitimate security concerns. "The only way for the people of Israel and the Arab world to achieve stability and security is through a comprehensive peace settlement to the overarching Arab-Israeli conflict," he wrote. "The inevitable alternative is increased extremism, intolerance and destruction."
