The historical Arab file can be summarized by reviewing the first Arab shift in the political discourse towards the issue of Jerusalem, which was in the letter of President Anwar Sadat to US President Jimmy Carter dated, 1978/9/22 during the Camp David talks, where he put forward in the letter for the first time an official Arab position on the issue of Jerusalem in all its aspects.

President Anwar Sadat stressed the Arab position and adherence to international legitimacy, especially UN Security Council Resolution 242, where his message stated that “Arab Jerusalem is an integral part of the West Bank and that the legal and historical Arab rights in the city must be respected and restored”. Although the Arab position was rejecting the Camp David agreements and the imposition of Arab boycott sanctions on Egypt and removing it from the official Arab House (summits), the official Arab position maintained in its content and framework what was included in President Sadat's letter to President Carter regarding Jerusalem, where the Arab summit at the Fez conference on 1982/9/9 approved the document of Prince (King) Fahd, which demanded “.

The necessity of Israel's withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967, including Arab Jerusalem, the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and ensuring freedom of worship and religious practice for all religions,”he said. In another development of the Arab position following the “Al-Aqsa mosque fire” in 1969/8/21, it was announced the formation of the Al-Quds Committee headed by King Hassan II, which assumed the official Arab responsibility in protecting Arab rights and holy places and defending the Arabization of the city by a collective Arab effort.

Sadat's letter to Carter, September 17, 1978
1-Arab Jerusalem is considered part of the West Bank and the legitimate and historical Arab rights in the city must be respected and restored.

2.Arab Jerusalem should be under Arab sovereignty.

3-the Palestinian population has the right to exercise all their legitimate national rights as part of the Palestinian people in the West Bank.

4-that the resolutions issued by the Security Council, especially resolutions no.٢٤٢ and No. 267, must be applied on Jerusalem, and all the measures taken by Israel to change the status of the city are considered null and illegal and their effects must be annulled.

5 - all peoples should have free access to Jerusalem, practice religious rites and the right to visit the holy places without any discrimination or discrimination.

.6-the holy places of each of the three religions should be placed under the management and supervision of a representative of this religion. .7 the necessary functions in the city should be divided and a municipal council of both Arabs and Israelis can be established to oversee the implementation of these functions. In this way, the city will not be divided.

The Arab peace plan / Fez conference 1982 (on August 18, 1981) King Fahd bin Abdulaziz announced the Saudi peace plan to achieve a settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which was approved by the Arab summit at the Fez conference on September 6, 1982 and announced by King Hassan II, chairman of the Al-Quds Committee and chairman of the conference:

1-the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the territories occupied by the year ١٩٦٧ including Arab Jerusalem.

2-the removal of the colonies established by Israel after 1967 in the Arab territories

3-ensuring the freedom of worship and the practice of religious rites for all religions in holy places .

4-affirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and exercising their inalienable and inalienable national rights under the leadership of M.T.His only legitimate representative and compensation for those who do not wish to return.

5-the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be subject to a transitional period under the supervision of the United Nations for a period not exceeding a few months.

6-the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

7-the UN Security Council shall establish guarantees of peace between all the states of the region, including the independent Palestinian state.

The Arab League and the Jerusalem issue

A. There have been many resolutions of the league of Arab states on the issue of Jerusalem, and although the Arab summit has been meeting frequently since 1964 and studying the issue of Jerusalem, among the problems and issues before it, the decisions of the league council included Resolution No. 201, issued on April 8, 1950, on the need to maintain the demographic situation of the city of Jerusalem as it was on November 29, 1948. Resolution No. 202 was also issued in 1950 to maintain the percentage of land ownership in the city of Jerusalem between the elements of the Arab and Jewish population, as it was in November 1948. Also, Resolution No. 304 was issued in the same year, that the endowments allocated for the service of religious, charitable and cultural institutions existing in the city of Jerusalem should be preserved. In 1952, Resolution No. 467 was issued urging Arab countries to oppose the transfer of the Israeli Foreign Ministry to Jerusalem.

P. The Council of the Arab League issued its Resolution No. 707, of 1954, forming the committee for the reconstruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the honorable Rock[1], and on November 17, 1957, Resolution No. 1390 was issued, confirming the contribution of the Arab League member states to the reconstruction expenses, and inviting Islamic countries to contribute to it. On April 29, 1992, the University Council issued its decision No. 5166, to support the Islamic endowments in the city of Jerusalem, and the reconstruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the dome of the rock. Therefore, a committee was formed with members from: Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Palestine, Egypt and Morocco, with the aim of studying and approving the projects to be presented by the competent Jordanian authorities on the restoration and maintenance of religious monuments inside the Temple Mount, as well as preparing an integrated budget to finance the planned projects.

C. On September 13, 1992, the Council of the Arab League issued its Resolution No. 5216, on providing immediate financial support to the city of Jerusalem, and establishing a special fund for this purpose, to which Arab governments and popular sectors contribute, to enable Palestinian citizens to preserve their property and lands, and prevent the occupation authorities from further confiscation and seizure of these properties. The resolution also included the establishment of a ministerial committee for political action and an explanation of the Arab position towards the city of Jerusalem. In March 1994, the Council of the Arab League, at its regular session, confirmed the Arabization of Jerusalem, rejecting all attempts that targeted its Islamic identity. On May 6, 1996, during an emergency session of the Arab foreign ministers, the league Council condemned the Israeli government's decision to confiscate Arab land in East Jerusalem and beyond. The Arab League called on the Security Council not to recognize Israeli resolutions.

Dr. The Arab League condemned the decision of the US Senate, which recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, calling for the transfer of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as the league Council announced in its statement issued on October 25, 1995 that the American decision is a violation of successive official American positions rejecting the Israeli decision since 1967. When the Israeli government announced the construction of a settlement in Jabal Abu Ghneim south of Jerusalem, in addition to its insistence on the continued opening of the tunnel located in the vicinity of the Haram al-Sharif and preventing Palestinians from entering the city of al-Quds Al-Sharif, the Arab League, in its statement issued in February 1997, demanded both the Security Council and the sponsors of peace to act quickly and confront Israeli settlement operations, especially in the city of Jerusalem.

E. There was a close correlation between the decisions taken by the league Council and the decisions of the Arab summits, which began to form a recurring phenomenon since the beginning of 1964:

(1) the first summit conference, held in Cairo from 13 to 16 January 1964, stressed the necessity of establishing a Palestinian entity that would gather the will of the people of Palestine and establish a body that would demand their rights. Many of the decisions of the first Arab summit were achieved, the most important of which was the convening of the Palestinian National Council in Jerusalem, on March 28, 1964, which decided to establish the Palestine Liberation Organization.

(2) at the second Arab Summit conference, held in Alexandria, during the period of September 5-11, 1964, the national goal was set in the liberation of Palestine from Zionist colonization, and adherence to the Joint Arab action plan.

(3) at the third summit in Casablanca, on September 13-18, 1965, the unified plan for the defense of the Palestinian cause was approved at the United Nations.

(4) during the fourth Arab Summit conference, which was held in Khartoum, during the period from August 29 to the first of September 1967, following the Arab defeat, the Arab leaders, kings and presidents agreed to unite their efforts to eliminate the effects of aggression and achieve the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all occupied territories, after the fifth of June 1967. This is within the framework of the principles that the Arab countries adhere to, namely, not to reconcile with Israel, not to recognize it, not to negotiate with it, and upholding the right of the Palestinian people to their homeland.

(5) after a period of Arab stumbling, resulting from intra-Arab differences, the fifth Arab summit was held in Rabat, during the period of December 16-23, 1969, where the conference demanded support for the Palestinian revolution with all Arab energies, as well as support for Arab steadfastness in the occupied territories materially and morally, but the Arab differences played a key role in the failure to issue a final statement of the conference.

(6) during the period of September 22-25, 1970, the extraordinary Arab Summit conference was held to discuss the explosive situation between the Palestinian resistance forces and the Jordanian army, and this conference was dedicated to ending the Jordanian-Palestinian conflict and achieving temporary interests.

(7) after that, the Arab summits stopped for almost four consecutive years, as the sixth summit was held in Algiers, during the period from November 26-28, 1973, to evaluate the results of the October War from the political side.

(8) the seventh Arab Summit conference was held in Rabat, during the period of October 26-30, 1974, which confirmed that the PLO is the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people. It also allocated financial support, estimated at about 2.3 million dollars annually, to the confrontation countries and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The conference stressed that the interim goal of the Arab action is the commitment of all Arab countries to preserve Palestinian national unity, and no Arab party should accept any attempt to achieve any partial political settlement, based on the nationalism of the issue and its unity.

(9) the eighth Summit conference was held in Cairo, during the period of October 25-26, 1976, after the aggravation of Arab differences, the signing by Egypt of the second separation of forces agreement in Sinai in 1975, the outbreak of the civil war in Lebanon, and the intervention of the Palestinian resistance in the Lebanese territories in this conflict, and during this conference, Arab deterrence forces were formed, whose burdens were borne by Syria.

(10) during the period from November 2-5, 1978, the ninth Arab Summit conference was held in Baghdad, following the signing of the Camp David agreement by President Mohammed Anwar Sadat. The conference stressed the need to abide by the decisions of the previous Arab summits, especially the sixth and seventh conferences, which set the Arab interim goal of liberating all the occupied Arab territories and the city of Jerusalem, and not to accept any situation that would affect the full sovereignty of the Arabs over the city, and that the question of Palestine is the issue of all Arabs. The conference also confirmed its rejection of the two Camp David agreements, as well as rejecting all their political, economic and legal implications. As a result of Egypt's insistence on signing the Camp David Accords, the Arab foreign ministers decided to apply the boycott laws to Egyptian companies, institutions and individuals who will deal with Israel directly or indirectly.

11 in the city of Tunis, the tenth summit was held, during the period November 20-22, 1979. The conference condemned, for the first time, the American pro-Israel Policy, and affirmed that the Israeli presence in the Arab territories is the core of the conflict, and that the Arab nation is interested and committed to the struggle for the Palestinian cause and other occupied Arab territories.

(12) the eleventh Summit conference was held in Amman, during the period November 25-27, 1980, during which it was decided to sever all relations with any state that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, or move its embassy to it, and it was also decided to establish a joint Arab military command, as well as to study the establishment of an Arab military manufacturing enterprise.

(13) during the period from September 6-9, 1982, the sessions of the twelfth Arab summit resumed, which had held one session on November 25, 1981, during which reference was made to the project of Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz and the project of President Habib Bourguiba. During this conference, several principles were adopted, including: the need for Israel to withdraw from all the territories occupied in 1967, including Arab Jerusalem, as well as the removal of all the colonies established by Israel in the Arab territories after 1967, while guaranteeing freedom of worship and the practice of religious rites of all religions in the holy places, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

And. Arab summits continued to support the Palestinian cause until the 1990 Cairo summit, which was held mainly to counter the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. And with the Palestinian intifada at the end of September 2000, the Cairo 2000 summit was held, which was in support of the Palestinian position. During it, it was decided to hold the Arab summit annually. Hence, the first periodic summit was held in Amman in 2001, during which the Amman declaration was issued, where it demanded the prosecution of Israeli war criminals and the deployment of international protection forces. He also condemned the attempts to obliterate the identity of the city of Jerusalem, as the Arab leaders and leaders affirmed their adherence to the Security Council resolutions on the city of al-Quds Al-Sharif, which affirm the invalidity of all measures taken and being taken by Israel to change the city's landmarks. The countries of the world demanded not to move their embassies to Jerusalem, and they renewed their position on severing all relations with countries that move their embassies to Jerusalem, or recognize it as the capital of Israel.

G. In the context of regional and international contradictions and the growing tension in the Middle East, the second Arab periodic summit was held at its fourteenth regular session in 2002. During the meeting, the Arab leaders declared their condemnation of the all-out destructive war being waged by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people and their national authority. The Arab leaders have affirmed their continued adherence to the Security Council resolutions on the city of Jerusalem, in particular resolutions Nos. 252/1968, 267/1969, 465/1980 and 478/1980, which affirm the invalidity of Israeli measures to alter the city's landmarks. The Arab leaders also announced their approval of the Arab Peace Initiative based on a just and comprehensive peace, as a strategic option for the Arab countries, and requires a corresponding commitment confirmed by Israel. In its final form, the initiative called on Israel to reconsider its expansionist policy and to side with peace. It also demanded the withdrawal of Israel from all occupied Arab territories. The Peace Initiative explained that when the Just Arab demands are met, they can consider the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but the Israeli position rejecting this initiative is the beginning of the conflict entering a new phase.

Saudi Arabia and the Jerusalem issue
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made numerous efforts on the issue of Jerusalem, whether in the regional or international framework, as well as providing material and moral support to the countries of confrontation with Israel at various stages of their conflict, as well as support to the Palestinian side. The Saudi position on the Palestinian issue in general, and the Jerusalem issue in particular, is represented in the declaration of the eight proposed principles as the basis for a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, which were presented by Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz on August 9, 1981, which was known as the Prince Fahd project, which consisted of the following:

A. The withdrawal of Israel from all Arab territories occupied in 1967, including Arab Jerusalem.

P. The removal of the colonies established by Israel in the Arab territories after 1967.

C. Ensure the freedom of worship and the practice of religious rites of all religions in the holy places.

Dr. Affirming the right of the Palestinian people and compensating those who do not wish to return.

E. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are subject to a transitional period, under the supervision of the United Nations, for a period not exceeding a few months.

And. The establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

G. Affirming the right of the countries of the region to live in peace.

H. The United Nations or some of its member states shall ensure the implementation of these principles.

The efforts of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia have continued to show the Israeli plans calling for ignoring the Arab right to the holy city, as it has always condemned projects aimed at Judaizing Jerusalem and increasing settlement in it. The kingdom also provided about thirty million US dollars to establish housing for Palestinians in Jerusalem. There were also decisive and firm positions of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, towards the Israeli massacres committed by it in Jerusalem, which followed the opening of the tunnel under the foundations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The kingdom called on the Security Council and the international community to work to end the illegal Israeli actions directed against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The efforts of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia did not depend on the Palestinian support only, but Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz presented the Fahd Peace Project on August 7, 1981, and the project included the principles of resolving the Jerusalem issue, which were as follows:

A. The withdrawal of Israel from the territories it occupied in 1967, including Arab Jerusalem.

P. Ensure the freedom of worship and the practice of religious rites of all religions in the holy places.

C. The establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Before the Arab summit was held in Beirut in March 2002, The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, announced a peace initiative, in a press interview, conducted by American journalist Thomas Friedman. This initiative was put forward in the light of the continuation of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the main engine for the settlement efforts of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and its support for all the initiatives that have been put forward, but this initiative falls within the framework of continuous Arab efforts to prove that the option of peace is the Arab strategic option, and the initiative:

A. Israel's withdrawal from the areas it occupied in 1967, namely the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and the Golan.

P. Withdrawal versus full and comprehensive normalization.

C. Call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

From the above, it is clear that the simultaneous launch of Saudi initiatives was in the context of the outbreak of regional wars in the region. The first Saudi initiative of Prince Fahd and the second Saudi initiative of Prince Abdullah were aimed at restoring Arab rights in general, and the occupied territories in particular, including al-Quds al-Sharif. This was in line with the Saudi policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict. If the Arab Summit conference in Fez, which was held on November 25, 1981, did not adopt Prince Fahd's project, but postponed it so as not to lead to divisions within the conference, as Syria, Iraq and Libya opposed this project, but the Arab position on Prince Abdullah's initiative in 2002 was supported by all Arab countries, and was discussed at the Beirut Summit 2002, and even declared as an Arab Peace Initiative. Despite the Arab position on this initiative and full support for it, the Israeli position had trends, the first trend was adopted by the opposition parties, which supported this initiative due to the fact that the state that provided it with its political, economic and ideological weight in the region, which gives it Arab, regional and international weight, while the second trend opposing this initiative was the strongest and most capable of it will remain united and the capital of Israel.

Egyptian efforts and the Jerusalem issue
There were many Egyptian initiatives aimed at achieving peace in the Middle East and ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, and there was Sadat's first initiative on February 4, 1971, which confirmed the possibility of achieving peace in the region after the restoration of the Arab territories occupied since 1967. On October 16, 1973, President Anwar Sadat announced his second initiative, during which he adhered to the need to restore and respect the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and implement UN resolutions Nos. 242, 338. On November 20, 1977, during his visit to Jerusalem, Sadat demanded the complete withdrawal from the Arab territories occupied since 1967, and the framework for peace between Egypt and Israel, signed on September 17, 1978 at Camp David, also included the necessity of Israel's complete withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On the first of March 1985, President Hosni Mubarak put forward his peace initiative, during which he demanded that a Jordanian-Palestinian-Israeli meeting be held in Cairo or Washington to negotiate peace, with an international conference to give international legitimacy to any possible agreement involving the five permanent members of the Security Council. On June 6, 1990, President Hosni Mubarak put forward a ten-point peace plan, which focused mainly on the need to implement Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and allow the residents of East Jerusalem to participate in any electoral processes, provided that Israel accepts the results of these elections.

The popular and official Egyptian position on the Jerusalem issue is reflected in the political discourse that has been announced since Sharon's storming of the Holy Temple Mount on September 28, 2000, and the ensuing repercussions. The Egyptian political discourse has kept pace with various developments, as the basic positions of the Egyptian vision on the issue of Jerusalem were determined during the political speech delivered by President Hosni Mubarak to the people's Assembly and Shura Council on December 17, 2000, where the speech revealed the plan of the operation to storm the Temple Mount, as a maneuver to evade Israel's responsibilities, on the implementation of settlement agreements, and an attempt to promote proposals and ideas aimed at robbing the Arabization of Jerusalem, the dimensions of the Egyptian political discourse towards the city of Jerusalem are as follows:

A. Palestinian sovereignty over all of East Jerusalem.

P. The rejection of any joint or partial sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the dome of the rock, the Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, the Miraj Dome, the Al-Buraq Wall, the square of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the cradle of Christ, the monasteries of Abraham, the Greek Orthodox, John the Baptist, the Virgin, The Church of the Savior and the Virgin, thereby returning the Armenian quarter of Old Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty.

C. Jerusalem, with its current borders and its eastern and western parts, shall be an open city, and its residents and visitors shall have the right to move between its shrines, and its municipal services shall be integrated without prejudice to Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem and the right of the Palestinian state to take it as its capital.

Dr. Secure free access for Jews to the Al-Buraq Wall from the Moroccan Gate, the Hebron gate, or both, while retaining all aspects of sovereignty for the Palestinians.

E. Accept the opening of foreign embassies in both parts of the city after the conclusion of the final settlement agreement in Palestine.