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Last update - 13:09 20/05/2008 Livni hints no peace agreement likely in 2008 By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Bernard Kouchner  Israel and the Palestinians are not likely to reach agreement on the core issues during 2008, Foreign Ministry Tzipi Livni suggested during talks on Monday with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is currently visiting Israel. "The time frame in which an agreement will be reached is important, but its content are even more important," Livni said. "Strict time tables may create expectations, disappointment and violence," Livni said. "As a lesson from the past, we must give the sides the room and the time to reach an agreement. We also know that agreements that lack in clarity only perpetuate the conflict, not bring it to an end." Advertisement In reference to the situation in the Gaza Strip, Livni said that "the peace process is in and of itself important, but will not alter the situation in Gaza. If there is no change in Gaza, Gaza will become a regional problem that will constitute an obstacle to the ability to reach a settlement and to its implementation." On Thursday, when Livni meets her French counterpart Bernard Kouchner, she intends to ask for clarifications on the contacts that France is having with Hamas. Senior political sources in Jerusalem expressed anger Monday at comments made by the French minister on Monday confirming that France has contacts with Hamas officials, and that these have been in place "even before Hamas took over Gaza." Kouchner made the statements following a report in the French daily, Le Figaro, that a former senior French diplomat met several weeks ago in the Gaza Strip with senior Hamas figures, including Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud al-Zahar. Former ambassador Yves Aubin de La Messuziere told the newspaper that senior Hamas officials reiterated the offer made by Khaled Meshal, according to which Hamas will accept the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. The French Foreign Ministry noted that the diplomat's visit to Gaza was a private affair. "There is a need for contacts, but it is not about relations with Hamas," Kouchner said. "We must be able to talk with each other if we want to be able to play a role. Meanwhile, Vice Premier Haim Ramon accused Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of negotiating with Hamas. Such talks are contrary to a cabinet decision that no such talks will be held with the Islamic organization unless the group accepts the conditions set forth by the Quartet, namely, recognition of Israel, relinquishing violence, and accepting all previous agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In private talks, Ramon said Monday that the contacts the Israeli leaders are holding with Egypt's chief of intelligence, Omar Suleiman, who is mediating a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, constitutes indirect negotiations with them. 'Our PM talks to Hamas' "It is hard to complain to the French when our prime minister talks with Hamas," Ramon said. At a Kadima faction meeting on Monday on the situation in the Gaza Strip, Ramon said that "negotiations with Hamas are taking place contrary to a cabinet decision that required that the conditions set by the Quartet are accepted [by Hamas] before talks can happen. We must stop the victory march of radical Islam, and I hope that next week we will make the strategic decision that we will not accept a Hamas state on our southern border. The IDF will then know what to do," Ramon said. The vice premier was also critical of the way the government is dealing with the continued Qassam attacks. "We are not fighting against a terrorist group but against a terrorist state called Hamastan, and we cannot reconcile with this situation, nor can Egypt reconcile with such a state on its border." Related articles: Pelosi: I trust all presidential candidates in regard to Israel The Middle East is Pelosi's playground Cheney accuses Pelosi of 'bad behavior' on Middle East trip No cause for celebration Bookmark to del.icio.us   'Colombian Entebbe' Israelis contributed to the dramatic Colombia rescue of 15 hostages. Handshake controversy Iraqi MPs voice their rage at President Talabani for shaking the hand of Ehud Barak.   1.   The Usual Double Stahdard 06:53  |  Natallie Durson 20/05/08   2.   A Fatah legislator?s recent claim : The US is ?the greatest... 08:28  |  Jean Van Daem 20/05/08   3.   The right to recognition is not an exclusive right 09:44  |  Dutch 20/05/08   4.   The right to recognition is not an exclusive right 09:44  |  Dutch 20/05/08   5.   #3 doris cadigan and more senseless logic. 12:57  |  v hardman 20/05/08   6.   Listening 13:38  |  Dov Ber 20/05/08   7.   Livni hints 14:45  |  Mary 20/05/08   8.   if bush bombs iran this summer, there will be peace. 00:30  |  frenz 21/05/08

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