U.S. security proposals a non-starter for Arab League

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Arab League rejected U.S. security proposals that would keep Israeli soldiers in the Jordan Valley after the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Keeping Israeli soldiers on the eastern border of the Palestinian state for the next 10 years achieves “Israeli security expansionist demands,” said a report given to Arab delegates ahead of an emergency session of the Arab League on Saturday, Reuters reported.

The report called the security proposals by the United States “an American retreat.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who called for the emergency session, has said he would be in favor of U.S. troops patrolling the border.

Israel and the Palestinians are scheduled to finish the current round of negotiations by April.