There’s a fascinating disconnect between this AP headline and article. The headline?
Arab League in Jerusalem for 1st time
Not so fast. Correspondent Steve Weizman goes on to write:
An official at the league’s Cairo headquarters, however, sought to play down the Jerusalem visit, saying it was not an official delegation.
Whether or not a delegation sent to Israel by the Arab League is in fact an Arab League delegation, the visit is part of a flurry of diplomatic efforts meant to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after a seven-year lull.
The Arab League wants to have its cake and eat it too. If the initiative fails, the league will claim that the visiting Foreign Ministers were simply from Egypt and Jordan, states that already have normal relations with Israel. And if peace does develop, the league will surely take credit for the visit….
UPDATE July 26: Credit the Daily Telegraph with a more accurate perspective:
Although they were not an official delegation from the League, the visit highlighted a change of direction for the Arab body, which once advocated Israel’s destruction.
