Israel must join the Arab states in committing to a two-state settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative, His Majesty King Abdullah said on Friday, the anniversary of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that rendered hundreds of thousands of Palestinians refugees.

“The Arab Peace Initiative has offered Israel a place in the neighbourhood and more: acceptance by 57 nations, the one-third of the UN members that do not recognise Israel,” King Abdullah told an international audience of hundreds of leaders from business, politics and civil society convened at the opening ceremony of the 2009 World Economic Forum on the Middle East, being held for the fifth time in Jordan.

“This is true security - security that barriers and armed forces cannot bring,” the King said, warning that “the time to act is not indefinite.”

“There must be no more missed opportunities, no more process without progress,” King Abdullah said. “What is needed is real action and real results: a clear plan for comprehensive negotiations and a vigorous leadership commitment to reach the end-game.”

King Abdullah, who met US President Barack Obama in Washington DC last month, said the American commitment to the two-state solution was encouraging and had opened a new opportunity to change the direction of regional events.

“Let us carry the message worldwide: the groundwork is in place,” the King urged. “There are no excuses for failure.”

This year's World Economic Forum on the Middle East is being held at the Dead Sea from 15-17 May, with more than 1,400 participants. Forum sessions will focus on the theme “Implications of the Global Economic Crisis for the Middle East: Home-grown Strategies for Success.” More than 60 per cent of participants are from the Arab world.

King Abdullah said the Arab Peace Initiative, a united Arab approach to definitively ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, is “just one expression of our region's determination to shape its own positive future.”

“That same sense of purpose and unity must govern economic and other activity as well,” he said, adding that success demands regional, multi-sector, multi-skill partnerships.

“No single entity owns the region's most pressing challenges - or their solution,” King Abdullah said. “… Regional priorities can be addressed most effectively by combining our capabilities.”

The King told World Economic Forum participants that they possessed the capability, the know-how and the partnerships to help the Middle East achieve its goals.

“Together, through our own initiatives, I believe our region can lead the world away from destruction and toward the future we need: an undivided Middle East, empowered by cooperation and determined to lead; an era of promise for every one of our children, for lives of dignity, opportunity and hope.”