UPSC Prelims 2023 Question:

Consider the following statements

Statement-I: Israel has established diplomatic relations with some Arab States.

Statement-II: The ‘Arab Peace Initiative’ mediated by Saudi Arabia was signed by Israel and Arab League.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

Explanation:

• The development of open, friendly relations between Israel and some Gulf Arab states has emerged as a significant new dynamic of the 21st century Middle East.
  
  

• Although the diplomatic accords signed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain with Israel in 2020 constituted a breakthrough in relations, the lines of communication and cooperation between the Gulf states and Israel are not new. Multiple countries in the region, including Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, established connections with Israel in the 1990s after the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel signed the Oslo Accords. So, statement 1 is correct.
  
  
• The Arab Peace Initiative is a comprehensive peace plan which was proposed in 2002 by then-Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The Initiative calls for an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and the normalization of relations between Israel and the entire Arab world, in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the areas gained by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War and a “just settlement” to the issue of Palestinian refugees. The Arab League endorsed the plan in March 2002, and readopted it in March 2007.
  
  
• However, The Israeli government rejected the initiative immediately, calling it a "non-starter," though the Quartet on the Middle East endorsed the Initiative in 2003. So, statement 2 is not correct.
  
  

Therefore, option (3) is the correct answer.

Subject: Polity | International Relations