Ahmad Aboul Gheit officially begins his term as Secretary General of the Arab League on Sunday. A former Egyptian foreign minister during Hosni Mubarak's reign, he is replacing another Egyptian, Nabil Alarabi.

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Aboul Gheit comes into the position as the Arab and Muslim world faces unprecedented divisions and is dealing with a wide range of threats, amongst them the maligned status of the Arab League itself.

His first task will be to manage the annual Arab League summit slated to be held at the end of July in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott, and where the leadership of the Arab world will be in attendance.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit

Aboul Gheit gave an interview to the Egyptian newspaper "Al-Ahram" on Sunday where he was asked, amongst other things, whether it is possible to bring about a peaceful end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the next five years.

The secretary general said that Israel thinks that it's experiencing its golden age because of the events occurring around it in the Middle East which has brought about upheavals in important Arab states such as Syria, Iraq, and Libya.

He added that due to these upheavals, the fight against ISIS has come to the forefront at the expense of the Palestinians. According to Aboul Gheit, "this is the first time that Palestinians have stood against Israeli stubbornness without strong Arab support. On top of this is the ideological and political schism between Fatah and Hamas, and between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which only stokes tensions."

The new Arab League secretary general then directed his comments to Israel, stating "Israel knows that the radicalization and threats emanating from Iran and Turkey - as well as the other challenges facing the Arab world - doesn't change the fact that the primary cause for all of these problems stems form the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the land of Palestine, a conflict which began 100 years ago."

Arab League (Photo: AFP)

He added that "the threats which the Europeans are subject to, which is damaging world security and causing all this terror is a direct result of the failure of the international community to solve the Palestinian issue."

"France is almost the only European country which is aware of the inherent danger of Israel dooming the chances for an arrangement, despite the modest Arab requests whereby Palestine is established on the land of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and whereby Palestine becomes a demilitarized state with Jerusalem as its capital."

The Arab League (Photo: AFP)

To this regard, Aboul Gheit noted US Secretary of State John Kerry's announcement which "reflects the Americans' feelings regarding the danger of the problem which can explode at any time despite Israeli domination and tyranny. The self sacrifice of the Palestinians for their rights, and their continuing willingness to sacrifice over the course of decades, proves that the Palestinian issue will stay alive."

The primary target: defeating ISIS

Aboul Gheit fielded his opinion on a wealth of other issues, and claimed that the most important mission facing the Arab League is defeating ISIS in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. The second mission is stopping Iran and Turkey from interfering in Arab affairs. The third mission is to try and find a compromise between the Arab world and the US and Russia regarding the future of Syria, Iraq, and Libya.

On the Syrian issue, Aboul Gheit said that the Arab League needs to fill an important position in making an agreement between the Assad regime and the opposition, and even send peace keeping forces to maintain stability, and creating a plan to return all of the people displaced by the conflict back to their homes.