Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday called for a regional approach to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and encouraged a break from the existing “theology” of Middle East peacemaking.

Speaking at the Herzliya security conference, Blair said that there exists today an opportunity for peace “based not only on conventional Israeli-Palestinian negotiation, but on the potential for a new relationship between the Arab nations and Israel,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

“It is an opportunity of unprecedented promise. We must grasp it with both hands,” he added.

The former prime minister, who previously served as envoy of the Middle East Quartet, said that successive attempts to reach an agreement through bilateral negotiations have failed. With Palestinian politics fracturing and the division between the West Bank and Gaza Strip growing, few have any confidence left that statehood is a viable reality.

Blair therefore concluded that other options, which break with traditional bilateral negotiations, should be explored. “We must break with some of the ‘theology’ of peacemaking which has become hallowed doctrine over the past 25 years,” he urged. “I can tell you frankly from the conversations and interactions I have with those in the region as well as obviously those here in Israel that this regional approach is now, virtually by consensus, accepted as the right road to travel.”

Blair also acknowledged that the Arab Spring had changed dynamics in the region that could play in Israel’s favor. “A new generation of leaders is emerging who govern young and impatient populations and who know that their route to progress lies in opening up to the world in friendship. And in each of these countries, this leadership is showing courage and determination in making change,” he said.

[Photo: HerzliyaConference / YouTube ]