Itongadol.- Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal spoke on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany over the weekend about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Israel Radio reported on Sunday.
The Saudi prince, the former ambassador to Washington who also headed his government’s intelligence apparatus, is thought to be a powerful emissary in the eyes of Western diplomats given his intimate familiarity with Riyadh’s foreign policymakers.
Turki and Livni discussed the Saudi peace initiative. Introduced in 2002 under the auspices of the Arab League, the proposal entails full normalization between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries in exchange for a withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines.
According to Israel Radio, Turki told Livni that the House of Saud was pleased she was named as head of the negotiating team in talks with the Palestinians since it would “ensure that [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu would not be so difficult.”
Livni responded that she viewed the Arab initiative as “very positive,” adding that the Israeli leadership “believes that the price of not reaching an agreement is steeper than reaching an agreement.”
According to Israel Radio, the justice minister added that while Israel won’t be enamored with every single aspect of the framework agreement being drafted by US Secretary of State John Kerry, “Israel can live with it.”