A mustached Arab in a white kefiyah headdress is all ready for peace. Doves are perched on his head, shoulders and back. An olive branch is in his mouth, another in a pigeon's beak, and a bunch of similar branches are under his arm.

He seems to be looking with amazement at an Israeli in a military uniform wearing dark glasses -- indicating he sees nothing -- who is standing arms folded with his back to the offer.

"Last chance for peace, stubborn man," the caption says.

The initiative repeats an offer the Saudi Crown Prince and now King Abdullah had made and that the Arab leaders adopted, with some modifications, at their summit meeting n Beirut in 2002: It called upon Israel to withdraw from all the territories it occupied since 1967, reach an agreed just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem and accept the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

If that happens, in the initiative's words "consequently," the Arab states would consider the conflict "ended." They would "enter into a peace agreement with Israel" and establish normal relations with it.

The Arab leaders ratified the decision at this week's summit meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A statement they issued talked of a "just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option for the Arab nation."

They did not change even one letter in the 2002 resolution. Professor Yitzhak Reiter of the Hebrew University's department of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies told United Press International the text has been the product of past negotiations with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians and "the maximum they could have reached."

It was the lowest common denominator, said Jafar Farah, director of the Israeli-Arab Mossawa Center.

An Israeli government analyst said the positive element in the summit's resolutions was its "anti-Iranian tone."

The concluding statement talked of "the dangerous conditions" whereby "Arab identity and culture is threatened."

With God's help the Arab nation can "achieve the security, dignity and prosperity it deserves when it unifies its ranks and strengthens its joint actions," the statement added.

Iran is Muslim, not Arab, and the analyst told UPI he believed the Arabs were signaling to Tehran, "This is an Arab area, don't try to enter." Their concern over Iran suggested they would be interested in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute because solving that problem would strengthen their unity.

The Israelis were mainly apprehensive about the Arab demand to resolve the refugee problem "in accordance with U.N. Resolution 194." That resolution says, "Refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so."

For Israel, an influx of Palestinian refugees means it would no longer be a Jewish state. That is why it says the refugees should be settled in the future Palestinian state or in other countries such as those where they have been for almost 60 years.

The initiative's supporters note, however, that the Arab plan says the solution must be "agreed upon," meaning it should be a subject for negotiations.

Israel is concerned also over the demand for a total withdrawal to the pre-1967 war lines. That would mean, for example, a withdrawal from Jerusalem's Old City and the most revered Jewish holy sites located there.

The Ma'an cartoon exaggerated the Israeli reaction. Israel has not turned its back on the offer.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's media adviser, Miri Eisin, told UPI they were studying the initiative "in depth ... checking if there is anything new and will give a more detailed response soon."

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement proposing talks. "Israel is sincerely interested in pursuing a dialogue with those Arab states that desire peace ... to promote a process of normalization and cooperation."

In a clear reference to the refugee issue, without using the word "refugee," Israel noted the idea was to have two nation-states, "with each state addressing the national aspirations of its own people -- Israel for the Jewish people and Palestine for the Palestinian people."

Reiter said Israel's diplomatic culture has always demonstrated an "inherent fear" of entering a political framework on the basis of texts such as the Arab peace initiative. It feared the talks might fail, but then, "Every text ... commits the Israeli position" for the following rounds.

Anyway, Olmert's government is considered too weak to begin talks and face criticism by the hawkish Likud that opposes the initiative.

Olmert's coalition is broad, but the situation is unstable as everybody is waiting for the outcome of the Winograd Committee's examination of last year's Second Lebanon War. The committee promised "conclusions" about Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz. Its findings might lead to new elections.

Reiter therefore suggested waiting a few weeks to see how events develop. If the Winograd Committee's recommendations do not require dramatic changes, the peace initiative might be an incentive for Olmert, suggested Reiter. At the moment, however, "internal political considerations prevent him from moving ahead," he said.

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