Livni: We see the need for a Palestine, as long as it's not a terror state

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that progress had been achieved in peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, and that Israel recognizes the need to establish a Palestinian state, on condition that an independent Palestine does not sponsor terrorism.

Speaking after a meeting Sunday with the Quartet of Mideast peace negotiators in Egypt, Livni described the negotiations with the Palestinians as serious and intensive.

"We recongnize the need to establish a Palestinian state, provided that it will not be a terror state," she said.

Representing Israel at the meeting at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik, Livni updated representatives of the U.S., Russia, United Nations and the European Union on Sunday about progress in talks with the Palestinians.

The meeting came approximately one year after the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Mideast peace conference.

Sitting side by side at a round table, Livni and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas briefed the Quartet and said they had reached a number of agreements, including "the need for continuous, uninterrupted, direct bilateral negotiations."

They asked the international community to support the parties' efforts in the framework of the Annapolis process, the Quartet said in a statement read by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"The Quartet emphasised the importance of continuity of the peace process," Ban said.

Mediators agreed that the spring of 2009 could be an appropriate time for an international peace meeting in Moscow.

The White House conceded this week that Bush was unlikely to achieve his goal of securing a peace deal to end the decades-old conflict before he leaves office in January. Bush had hoped an agreement would improve a legacy burdened by the war in Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, wrapping up what is likely to be her last visit to the region before stepping down, joined Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and EU foreign policy Chief Javier Solana at the meeting.

"What we heard today from the parties, which is the most important element of this, is that they believe in the Annapolis process," Rice told reporters.

While the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are expected to continue next year, political uncertainty in Israel and Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election leave the Bush administration with limited influence in its waning days.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "The single most important thing is that the new administration in the United States grips this issue from day one, and it can do so knowing that there is a foundation on which we can build."

An aide to Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa urged the Obama administration to put the Israeli-Palestinian issue at the top of its priorities once it comes into office.

"This will affect the general atmosphere and other conflicts in the region," said Hesham Youssef, Moussa's chief of staff. "Are these talks by themselves a goal? No. They are a means to achieve peace and this has not happened."

Prior to the meeting, Livni said that her goal for the meeting was to keep pressure off Israel as elections approach.

Israel is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on February 10, and polls show that Livni, the chief Israeli negotiator, is neck and neck with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes negotiations with the Palestinians at this point.

Livni told Army Radio before heading to Egypt that she believes that if "mediators see Israel is serious about an agreement with the Palestinians they will not pressure Israel about deadlines or the specifics of the negotiations right now."

Livni will not be presenting any dramatic reports of progress, she told Army Radio. "In the meantime, the updates will include the principles of the process, not its content, and we will try to retain the support of the international community for the process," she said.

In regard to the issue of Jerusalem, parts of which the Palestinians are demanding as the capital of a future Palestinian state, Livni stressed that the topic was never on the negotiating table. "We committed to discussing all the core issues, but it is important to differentiate between a commitment and actual discussion," she went on to say.

The Sharm meeting will be attended by representatives of the Quartet: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as well as other European Union representatives.

During the meeting, Livni is expected to brief the representatives, alongside chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia, on the progress of the talks since their relaunch last November in Annapolis, Maryland.

	Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, addressing reporters in Egypt on Sunday. (AP)