Fayyad meets Israeli FM Livni in Jerusalem

9 July 2007

Bethlehem - Ma'an - The prime minister of the Palestinian emergency government, Salam Fayyad, met with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday for the first time since the Palestinian leader took office, Israeli and Palestinian officials have told Reuters and other news agencies.

Their meeting in Jerusalem is considered a gesture of support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who appointed Fayyad as his prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister in an emergency government, drawn up following Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in mid-June.

"The discussion dealt primarily with the situation in the Palestinian Authority and the ways of improving the lives of the residents in the territories while preserving Israeli security interests," Livni's office said in a statement, reported by Reuters.

An official in Fayyad's office told Reuters that the meeting with Livni dealt with "broader political issues, not just removing a checkpoint here and there".

Meanwhile, according to the BBC, Israeli and Arab officials also said that an Arab League delegation would visit Israel for the first time this week.

The visit is expected to focus on the Arab peace initiative and also discuss ways to bolster the Palestinian Authority.

Israel rejected the Saudi-led Arab peace initiative when it was first launched in Beirut in 2002 but gave some aspects a cautious welcome when it was endorsed by the Arab League earlier this year.

According to Livni's office, as reported by Reuters, Livni and Fayyad also discussed "ways through which the Arab world could support the political process in a way that strengthens the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians."

On Sunday, Fayyad's office confirmed that Fayyad also met last week with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Fayyad noted that he and members of his emergency cabinet would continue to meet with Israeli officials, as necessary, in accordance with his mandate and in full conformity with the political platform of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

According to Israeli media sources, the two men discussed the transfer of the Palestinian Authority's tax money which Israel is withholding and security issues in the West Bank.

Fayyad reportedly asked for an Israeli commitment to stop military operations in A and B zones in the West Bank and demanded that Palestinian security forces be allowed freedom of operation in those zones. He is reported to have stressed to Barak that Israeli cooperation in this matter would boost his plan to dismantle militias in the West Bank.