BICOM

It was revealed over the weekend that Israel’s Justice Minister and lead negotiator Tzipi Livni met last week in London with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

The meeting was the first between senior Israeli and Palestinian officials since peace negotiations between the two sides were suspended at the end of last month. The nine-month talks, in which Livni headed the Israeli delegation, ended without an agreement. Just days before the deadline to the negotiations, Abbas’ Fatah faction agreed to form a unity government with Hamas, which remains dedicated to Israel’s destruction, prompting Israel to suspend the negotiations.

However, Livni and Abbas were both in London last week for separate engagements and agreed to meet. There was no official comment surrounding the meeting but Haaretz reports that Livni told Abbas the establishment of a unity government with Hamas is hugely problematic for Israel and would make it difficult to resume talks.

The meeting, first reported by Channel Two was apparently conducted with the full knowledge of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, Netanyahu reportedly made clear to Livni that the meeting did not constitute any part of official negotiations, which the cabinet including Livni voted to suspend following the announcement of the Fatah-Hamas pact. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reiterated this message in a Channel Two interview saying, “I am certain that we are not talking about negotiations,” but rather a private meeting.

As news of the meeting emerged, several right-wing cabinet members criticised Livni. Economy Minister and Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett said Livni was “like a satellite lost in orbit.” Likud’s Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz expressed incredulity that “ministers on their own accord meet with the head of another authority.” However, senior Hatnua MK Meir Sheetrit accused Livni’s critics of having “lost their minds,” suggesting that US Secretary of State John Kerry pushed for the meeting. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog MK called on Livni to leave the government rather than be a “fig leaf” for the “binational camp.”