An Arab League delegation, comprising the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, will visit Israel in the coming weeks to discuss the Arab peace initiative. The Arab League's decision to dispatch the team - a groundbreaking development in Arab-Israeli affairs - was made during Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's visit to Cairo yesterday.

Livni met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for two hours yesterday and discussed the diplomatic process with the Palestinians and the Arab peace initiative. The foreign minister also met with her Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and their visiting Jordanian colleague, Abdelelah al-Khatib.

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The two Arab ministers pledged that they would not present Israel with any preconditions or ultimatums during their meetings, but they also stressed that the Arab League delegation is not an alternative to direct contacts between Israel and the Palestinians. A senior Israeli government source concurred, warning that "the process on the new regional track will not move forward if there is no progress on the Palestinian track."

The impending visit by the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers is a continuation of the decision made at the Arab League summit in Riyadh in March, under which the two Arab countries with whom Israel has full diplomatic relations would be responsible for advancing the Arab peace initiative. The initiative, a revival of a similar proposal made at an Arab League summit in Beirut in 2002, calls on Israel to relinquish all territories captured in 1967 and agree to a negotiated settlement of the refugee problem. In exchange, it would receive normalized relations with all 22 league members.

There had been some rumors that the two ministers' visit would be delayed because of the political crisis in Israel, but Mubarak stressed that the visit would not be postponed.

Livni and Mubarak also discussed the precarious security situation in the Gaza Strip, the smuggling of arms into Gaza from Sinai, the Qassam rocket attacks on southern Israel and the growing strength of Hamas. Livni said that "the current situation in the Gaza Strip is unacceptable."

She also emphasized that Israel expects the Arab world to support and grant legitimacy to moderates in the Palestinian Authority, in order to bolster their ability to show flexibility on the diplomatic level and "reach more agreements with Israel."

The foreign minister said that Israel would like to see relations with Egypt broadened and deepened, adding that this effort could be given a boost through reciprocal official visits. Mubarak promised to encourage ministerial visits to Israel.

At the conclusion of her meetings, Livni contacted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and updated him on her visit.