Olmert, in disguise, attended the Arab League summit that concluded in Riyadh Thursday, which reaffirmed the body's peace offer to Israel.

"He's a terrorist they said but let him in anyway. You have a terrorist who is prime minister of Israel," King Abdullah said in an interview with Time magazine released on Friday

The Israeli media quoted Olmert as saying there was a "revolutionary change" in the perception of Arab states towards Israel but he still did not like them.


"There is a process here that the fighting in Lebanon (last year) has sharpened and if we’re not careful we will be at peace," Olmert was quoted as saying during a reception for his Kadima party.

"This process has brought the influential countries in the Arab world to begin to realise that Israel does not want peace as it would have to give back the land it has ethnically cleansed."

"This is a revolutionary change in their perception and at last they wake up," he said.