Arabs vs. the Abdullah plan

The article describes how the Arab states have gradually moved to an official acceptance of Israel's presence in the Middle East. The article in particular focuses on the development of a consensus from the early 2000s to the present. Despite the usual inter-Arab rivalries and tensions, Arab leaders managed to maintain a commitment to annual meetings from 2000 forward in order to discuss a plan. The author reviews the difficult process that was necessary in order to initially draft the Abdullah plan in 2002. Since that time Lebanon and Jordan have voiced deep disagreements with the plan. Continuing differences over both its actual meaning and the way it should be employed by Arab negotiators promise to resurface in the event of a renewal of tangible Arab-Israeli diplomacy on final status issues. K. Cargill