BICOM

Israeli and Palestinian lawmakers will meet in Jerusalem today to launch the Prague Forum of Israeli, Palestinian and other Middle Eastern parliamentarians.

The main item on the agenda at today’s event is thought to be the Arab Peace Initiative. The 2002 Arab League proposal suggested full Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for a series of conditions, including the return of Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel. In April last year, the Arab League softened its demands by accepting the principle of land swaps on pre-1967 borders. During the current peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has spearheaded the negotiations, has encouraged Israel to “look hard” at the initiative. The talks, which resumed in July 2013, are scheduled to last until the end of April. Although Israeli leaders have given their support to extending negotiations, there is no indication yet that the PA will agree to do so.

Participants in today’s event are expected to sign a letter in support of the Arab Peace Initiative, to be presented at the Arab Summit, a meeting of the Arab League’s foreign ministers which gets underway on Tuesday. Those scheduled to attend today’s event include Labour MK Hilik Bar, who heads the Knesset Caucus to Resolve the Arab-Israeli Conflict, which is comprised of 40 MKs, one of the largest parliamentary caucuses. He will be joined by Hatnuah’s Meir Sheetrit MK and Yesh Atid MK Ronen Hoffman. Palestinian representatives will include chairman of the Committee for Connection with Israeli Society Muhammad al-Madani and former-PA minister for prisoner’s affairs Ashraf al-Ajrami.

They will be joined by the European Union’s Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen and Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn. In addition, representatives from a number of embassies, including the United States, Canada, Spain and Italy are also scheduled to attend.