BICOM

The US State Department announced early this morning that US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who will also head any future Israeli delegation in peace talks with the Palestinians.

US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said that the meeting would take place tomorrow in the Italian capital Rome “as part of his [Kerry’s] ongoing discussions on the path to peace.” Kerry will also meet Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Rome. Since taking office, Kerry has made a concerted effort to kick-start direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Last week, he brokered an announcement by the Arab League which endorsed mutual land swaps to help delineate the final borders in a comprehensive peace deal. It is viewed as a softening of conditions set out in a 2002 Arab League initiative which would bring about full Arab recognition of Israel.

Livni travelled to Washington towards the end of last week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s envoy Yitzchak Molcho for talks with Kerry on the Arab League announcement, which Livni described at the time as “good news.” Kerry himself called the amendment in Arab League conditions as a “very big step forward.”

Meanwhile, a report in Maariv this morning cites an unnamed senior Israeli source, who claims that Kerry intends to broker a further statement from the Arab League, recognising Israel as a Jewish State, a step which Israel’s government has long requested from the Palestinian Authority (PA). Kerry reportedly hopes that such a declaration would compel Prime Minister Netanyahu to enter direct talks with the PA.