JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a plan to form a unity government with Israel’s opposition last year as part of a regional peace bid, but later backtracked, a newspaper reported Sunday.
The plan centered on a document delivered to opposition leader Isaac Herzog in September, but Netanyahu later pulled back and talks collapsed in October, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
Spokesmen for Netanyahu and Herzog, who heads the Zionist Union coalition dominated by his Labour party, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The effort came as moves were underway to restart peace talks with the Palestinians through a process that would include Arab countries in the region.
Netanyahu currently heads what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history, with key members of his coalition openly opposing a Palestinian state.
Forming a unity government with the center-left could have reassured Arab nations of his sincerity.
The document reportedly delivered to Herzog in September was a proposal for a joint declaration reiterating their commitment to a two-state solution and their desire to seek a resolution with the Palestinians.
It came some seven months after a previously reported secret meeting between Netanyahu, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Jordan’s King Abdallah II and then US Secretary of State John Kerry.
The meeting in the Jordanian city of Aqaba saw Kerry pitch a regional peace effort.
Arab countries have previously offered normalized relations with Israel in exchange for resolving the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Under Netanyahu’s plan, the draft document negotiated with Herzog was to be submitted at a summit in Egypt in October to launch a regional peace initiative.
The two men were then to announce negotiations for the formation of a unity government after returning from the summit, which ultimately did not occur, Haaretz said.
According to the paper, Netanyahu later told Herzog he wanted to resolve controversy surrounding the evacuation of a Jewish outpost in the occupied West Bank first, and talks later collapsed.
Donald Trump has since taken office as US president and has sent mixed signals regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Last month as Netanyahu visited the White House, Trump backed away from Washington’s years-long commitment to a two-state solution, saying he would support a single state if it led to peace.
Israeli right-wing politicians have welcomed Trump’s election, with some calling for an end to the idea of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu offered unity govt as part of peace bid
Netanyahu offered unity govt as part of peace bid
Iran FM criticizes Israel for ‘doctrine of domination’
- Doctrine allows Israel to expand its military arsenal while pressuring other countries in the region to disarm
- His remarks came a day after renewed nuclear talks with Washington in Oman
DOHA: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday criticized what he said was a “doctrine of domination” that allows Israel to expand its military arsenal while pressuring other countries in the region to disarm.
His remarks came a day after renewed nuclear talks with Washington, with previous talks collapsing when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June that triggered a 12-day war.
Araghchi was speaking at the Al Jazeera Forum conference in Qatar but made no reference to Friday’s talks with the United States.
“Israel’s expansionist project requires that neighboring countries be weakened: militarily, technologically, economically and socially,” Araghchi said.
“Under this project Israel is free to expand its military arsenal without limits ... Yet other countries are demanded to disarm. Others are pressured to reduce defensive capacity. Others are punished for scientific progress,” he added.
“This is a doctrine of domination.”
During the 12-day war Israel targeted senior Iranian military officials, nuclear scientists and sites as well as residential areas, with the US later launching its own attacks on key nuclear facilities.
Iran responded at the time with drone and missile attacks on Israel, as well as by targeting the largest US military base in the Middle East, located in Qatar.
On Friday, Araghchi led the Iranian delegation in indirect nuclear talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat.
The top Iranian diplomat later described the atmosphere as having been “very positive,” while US President Donald Trump said the talks were “very good,” with both sides agreeing to proceed with further negotiations.
The talks followed threats from Washington and its recent deployment of an aircraft carrier group to the region following Iran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests last month.
The United States has sought to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for militant groups in the region — issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks, according to media reports.
Tehran has repeatedly rejected expanding the scope of negotiations beyond the nuclear issue.
