Arabs Call for an End to Israel Contacts

Frustrated by escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence and angry with the United States’ reluctance to step in, Arab leaders meeting here Saturday called for an end to all political contacts with Israel--a move that threatens to derail the one regional effort aimed at promoting peace.

As Israel continued to retaliate for a suicide bombing that killed six civilians a day earlier, a committee of the Arab League in effect tried to co-opt the Jewish state’s posture regarding negotiations with the Palestinians by saying that no more discussions aimed at achieving peace should be held until the violence--in this case against Palestinians--is stopped.

Although the group of 10 foreign ministers took a measured step with its recommendation, avoiding a far more dramatic decision to formally sever diplomatic ties, the move is expected to halt any direct talks between Arab countries and Israel. That will limit Egypt’s and Jordan’s ability to promote a joint peace initiative they launched last month and slam shut the only opening to direct communication between the adversarial camps.

“Our intention is not to talk about or fall in the trap of talking about peace proposals while we see that the Israeli government does not really mean it,” said Amr Moussa, the former Egyptian foreign minister who took over as head of the Arab League last week. “The attacks against the Palestinians will have to stop. Otherwise we will be acting under the point of the gun, which we totally and utterly reject.”

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the Arab League decision was self-defeating because it did not urge Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to stop the violence.

“This is not a decision, it’s propaganda,” Raanan Gissin said. “They need peace exactly as much as we do. Who will they talk to? Each other?”

Also Saturday, Israel pounded Palestinian targets in the West Bank for a second day. And as the body count rose, with 22 dead in a 24-hour period that began at midday Friday with a suicide bombing outside an Israeli shopping mall, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell called for government leaders to speak out against the violence and to promote an unconditional cease-fire.

But Powell’s statement did nothing to calm either the Palestinian-controlled territories or the regional leaders who had gathered in Cairo, Egypt’s capital.

Israel’s decision to use its sophisticated air force appeared to unite the Arab group in a way that has previously proved elusive. The 22-member group has never lived up to its promise to serve as a vehicle to unify the Arab world into one voice. But with the charismatic and popular Moussa at the helm, the participants agreed to a position--however limited--that it can for once deliver on.

“Our credibility is at stake,” Moussa told the assembled leaders.

The call for ending all political contact with Israel came after the committee members listened to Arafat describe what he called Israel’s “systematic killing of the Palestinians with the aim of exterminating them.” The recommendation was one of 12, which also included renewed calls for the Israeli government to stop expansion of settlements and for an international monitoring force to enter the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Both of those steps have been rejected by Israel.

Though the committee’s recommendations are nonbinding, it appeared Saturday that Egypt and Jordan would follow them. Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah Khatib stood by Moussa’s side as he announced the meeting’s final statement.

Although the statement was presented as a reaction to Israel’s military activities, officials said it also was a response to the reluctance of the Bush administration to take a high-profile role in the region. Arab leaders are increasingly angry with what they view as the administration’s indifference to the bloodshed.

The Bush White House has called for an end to the violence, but Arab officials have said they do not believe that Israel will negotiate in good faith unless pushed by the United States.

One highly placed Arab official said Egypt and Jordan will not hold direct talks with Israel regarding the joint peace initiative but will continue to promote the plan to the international community, in particular the United States, Europe and Russia.

“It seems direct contacts are leading us nowhere,” said the official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

Before Saturday’s meeting, Egypt’s new foreign minister, Ahmed Maher, who took over last week from Moussa, condemned Israel’s use of F-16 planes in Friday’s airstrikes, saying it amounted to an escalation.

“Israel’s position is against international legitimacy,” Maher said, adding that “Israel will gain nothing by this because the Palestinian people will continue their struggle until they regain their legitimate rights.”

Though the meeting was initially closed to the public, officials decided to allow the widely viewed Arab satellite TV news channel Al Jazeera to broadcast the speeches by Arafat and Moussa live.

Viewers saw Arafat repeat his now-familiar message--blasting Sharon and vowing never to concede defeat while appealing to the Arab world to increase support for the Palestinians.

“The Palestinian peoples are steadfast holding up,” he said, reading from notes. “Their will is like iron--it will not bend or retreat or surrender. It will not give up its goals, which are your goals. It will not give up on its rights and its achievements.

“We insist on the popular character of the intifada,” Arafat said. But he added: “These people need support for this struggle.”

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Aline Kazandjian of The Times’ Cairo Bureau contributed to this report.

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