Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated on Monday that he "would not hesitate" to participatr in a regional Arab meeting if invited. "If such an invitation would come my way, I would look at it in a very positive way," Olmert told a joint press conference with UN chief Ban Ki-moon in Jerusalem.
"Assuming I would get a visa, I would not hesitate to participate."
According to AFP, Ban said such a summit was "a very interesting and useful idea to consider but we need more consultations."
The two had been asked whether the United Nations had invited Israel and the Palestinians to take part in a meeting between the Middle East peace Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, UN and the United States -- and the so-called Arab Quartet -- Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Olmert denied during the press conference with the visiting UN chief that there was a new peace initiative on the table.
Regarding the upcoming Arab League summit in Riyadh on Wednesday, the Israeli leader reiterated that there were elements of the Saudi peace initiative that Israel viewed positively. "If the Arab initiative would advance the peace, along the lines of the Saudi proposal, I would view it as a positive development," Olmert said, according to the JPost.
