SOUTH SHUNEH, Jordan, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said on Sunday that Arab leaders and Israelis should sit down together and discuss the Arab Peace Initiative, adding that Israel would present a counter-proposal to the initiative.

    "The Arab League has proposed (a peace initiative), we shall make a counter-proposal," Peres said.

    "We are ready to make a counter-proposal. And, we are ready to sit down with whomever you want - the Saudis, the Arab League -and we shall try to air out the differences between us," Peres told Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat during the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, which was opened here on Friday.

    Israel's formal proposal would take into account the details of the Arab Peace Initiative and would also outline Israel's opposing position, Peres said, adding that Israel would make the counter-proposal "as soon as possible."

    Moussa, for his part, said that Arab countries have adopted a unanimous and collective initiative offering the hand of peace to Israel, and "received no counter-offer, just gestures."

    "But we consider this year as crucial. We want to reach a conclusion when the window of opportunity is open," he added.