His Majesty King Abdullah II said the endorsement of the Arab peace initiative by Arab leaders at Beirut Arab summit was a great transformation in the Arab and Palestinian standpoint regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In reply to questions raised by participants in the Munich conference on security policy, where King Abdullah delivered a keynote address, the King said the Arab League has exerted good efforts over the past two years in the drive for peace and security in the Middle East.

However, the King questioned "why it is we, the Arabs, who are always asked to move forward and to make more steps whereas we do not see any response from the Israeli side?" With everyday of delay in settling the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Arabs and Israelis lose more of their lives, King Abdullah warned.

" What we are trying to do is to keep the Palestinian-Israeli question alive in a way the guarantees a foreword movement in case an substantial change takes place in the Middle East," the King said.

Unfortunately the regional issues and the current international climate do not foretell a serious movement in the peace process within the coming months, said King Abdullah expressing his worry that the widening cycle of violence has greatly affected both the Palestinians and the Israelis and has made their leaderships lose the ability for perceiving the broader picture.

"Everybody knows what is required but the problem is how to push the parties to the table of negotiations," the King said.

"We have seen over the past years, how the situation has turned out when the two parties were left alone, therefore, I see there is a necessity for the international community to exercise pressure in a transparent and responsible way on which party that should make more steps," King Abdullah told his interlocutors.

The international community, as a monitoring system, is capable of saying its word on what the roadmap peace plan requires from the Palestinians and the Israelis and how to implement it on the ground, King Abdullah said.

The called for empowering the governance institution of the Palestinian Authority noting that the previous government led by Abu Mazen did not receive the ample support. If we do not support Abu Ala's (Ahmed Qureia) government, who will be the alternative?" the King questioned.

The number of nominees for this post has diminished, he added. " If we want to grant strength to the Palestinians to help them develop their society, we have to empower them through easing their life and giving them hope," the King said.

What we are trying to do is to prevent what has happened with the previous government, the King said. When the Palestinians are asked to implement ten different issues together and this indeed what has happened, they fulfilled what they were asked to do, but in return, they received nothing. Rather, they were asked to do more and more to the extent that made Abu Mazen unable to continue, King Abdullah added.

He warned that if the present Palestinian Prime Minister is set to failure, nobody can predict what might happen, therefore it is our responsibility as a whole to make his government succeed in building the Palestinian institutions.

Any solution to the Palestinian issue should be within a defined time frame and if there isn't such a time table, we will find ourselves waiting for another ten years of violence and destruction in the Middle East, King Abdullah said.

Referring to the situation in Iraq, King Abdullah said bringing Iraq back to the international community will be a great positive step that contributes to stability in the Middle East. However, he reiterated that the Palestinian problem is the core issue and most of the Arab efforts focus on resolving this issue, which has been the cause of instability in the region.