BICOM

The Arab League Summit is set to begin this morning at the Dead Sea resort of Sweimeh, hosted by Jordan’s King.

King Abdullah will be hosting leaders from the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, PA President Mahmud Abbas and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir – wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

The Summit will discuss refugees, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict among other issues. President Trump’s envoy for international negotiations is attending as an observer and has held talks with Arab League General Secretary Ahmed Aboul Gheit and EU Foreign Affairs chief Federica Mogherini.

Egyptian President al-Sisi is scheduled to visit Washington next week and PA President Abbas will meet with President Trump in late April.

The summit is expected to pass resolutions reaffirming the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and opposing President Trump’s plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

Speaking ahead of the summit, Jordan ‘s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, said: “It is a very difficult reality that we are living in…There are numerous challenges facing all of us — challenges of terror, challenges of continuing occupation, crises in Syria, Libya and Yemen. And that has led to an erosion of trust that people have in the regional Arab order.”

Media reports have speculated that Arab States could signal some flexibility on the Arab Peace Initiative that would form the basis of a renewed push in Israeli-Palestinian discussions with wider regional involvement.

The Saudi-led peace plan, proposed in 2002, calls on Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 lines and create a Palestinian State in exchange for full diplomatic and economic relations with moderate Arab States.

Israel has signalled it wants to begin normalisation with Arab States in parallel with Palestinian negotiations, something that the Arab States have so far rejected.