Livni meets with Palestinian foreign minister in London

At the height of the Israeli campaign against the Palestinian national unity government, Palestinian sources have revealed that the Israeli Minister of Justice and chief peace negotiator, Tzipi Livni met with the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki on the side-lines of an international conference held in Britain yesterday.

A diplomat attending the conference gave Israel’s news portal Walla a photo of Livni and Al-Maliki sitting in an unusual position for an official meeting. They seem to be sitting in a casual, rather than formal setting, similar to that of friends rather than opponents.

Walla quoted high-ranking Palestinian sources saying that Livni met with Al-Maliki yesterday on the side-lines of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London.

The sources also added that Livni has kept in touch with PA officials and recently held phone calls with the head of intelligence Majed Faraj, chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Fatah official Jibril Rajoub.

This meeting is expected to cause a storm within the Israeli government, especially after the Israeli security cabinet passed a decision to freeze all political meetings with the PA. It is also expected to cause furious reactions from the Palestinian people due to the nature of the meeting and the photo.

Livni’s meeting with Abbas in London about a month ago caused a storm amongst Israelis and Livni was accused of violating the Israeli security cabinet’s decision not to hold meetings with PA officials.