Tzipi Livni: Abbas is a partner

Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni said she opposed former prime minister's proposal, Ehud Olmert, for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, as she criticized PM Netanyahu for halting negotiations with Palestinians. In an interview with Haaretz, Livni said, "I was opposed to two things in Olmert's proposal: that the decision on the future of Jerusalem would be referred to a committee composed of three Arabs, one Israeli and one American, and of course the return of refugees." "I'm very firm on the issue of the refugees. As far as I'm concerned, refugees [are] not to enter the State of Israel. Not even one,” said Livni. “The agreement to bring back a certain number of refugees was a historic mistake that Ehud Barak began and Olmert continued," she added. Livni, who was the Foreign Minister during Olmert's term and headed the Israeli delegation to conduct talk with her Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qurei, stated "I convinced the world that the refugees would not enter Israel; I told them that just as Israel as a Jewish state [received] refugees after the Holocaust, the Palestinian state is the national solution for the entire Palestinian people, including the refugees.” “That's how I in effect convinced the world, not only Condi [Rice] and [U.S. President George W.] Bush, but also [French President Nicholas] Sarkozy, [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel and the Italians." Livni stressed that Abbas is "a partner" who wants to reach an agreement regarding the conflict, adding that Israel has failed in recent years during Netanyahu's term to reach an accord with the Palestinians, " I am sure that an agreement is possible, if not, then we have at least tried to do it in a peaceful way."