Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, in New York for a UN summit, has called on Arab states to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. "I think that the time has come after we ended our withdrawal of Gaza [for Arabs] to take the initiative, take a move forward to have better relations with Israel," Shalom told reporters after meeting Tunisia's foreign minister. However, Arab leaders have said that they will not establish relations with Israel until it withdraws to the 1967 borders and a Palestinian state is created.