New Peace Plan

King Abdullah of Jordan has proposed a new peace plan for the Middle East. What makes this plan interesting is that it calls for normalization of relations between Arab countries and Israel before Israel gives up any of the land captured in 1967. This is more than another in the line of peace plans like the Geneva Initiative or the Saudi plan of a few years ago. In effect, this plan changes the paradigm from "land for peace" - a formula enshrined by UN Sec. Council Resolution 242 - to one of "peace for peace" with the discussion of territorial concessions later. This is something that Israel has always wanted; exchanging tangibles for promises has proven itself to be highly problematic. This plan also has no chance of passing since the Arab League would never allow something not negative for Israel to be adopted. But, the fact that it was even brought up by an Arab leader may be promising.