Arab League rejects U.S. peace proposal

The Arab League rejected on Saturday U.S. proposals that would allow Israeli soldiers to be stationed on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state.

Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said no peace deal would work with Israeli presence in a Palestinian state.

Elaraby made the remarks during an emergency meeting held in Cairo on Saturday at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

But a resolution he read at the end of the meeting did not repeat the harshly critical language of a report circulated to the Arab delegates ahead of the gathering.

The report, seen by Reuters, said the U.S. security proposals “achieved Israeli security expansionist demands, and guaranteed (Israel's) continued control of (the Jordan Valley) on the security pretext.”

It also described them as “an American retreat.”

Abbas has rejected the idea of Israeli troops being stationed along the Jordan Valley, but said he could accept the deployment of U.S. troops there.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been shuttling between Israelis and Palestinians, said the United States presented “some thoughts” on security arrangements, but gave no details.

The Arab League report said the United States and Israel were linking talks on political issues to the Palestinians' consent to “the American security solution.” “This is what the
Palestinian side rejects,” it said.