Arab Officials Revive Overture to Israel

Arab foreign ministers agreed to relaunch an offer of normal relations with Israel, but only after spelling out in detail conditions that the Jewish state has repeatedly rejected.

Jordan had tried to simplify the offer, enshrined in an Arab peace initiative agreed on in Beirut in 2002, to make it more appealing to public opinion in Israel and the rest of the world.

But other foreign ministers, meeting to prepare for an Arab summit opening Tuesday in Algeria, insisted that the offer make clear that normal ties depended on Israeli steps such as withdrawal from land occupied since 1967.