In an interview with Israel's Channel 2 TV, Israeli Foreign Minister Livni
said she had informal meetings with a number of Arab foreign ministers at
the US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian summit in Annapolis. She mentioned in
this regard that she held talks with her counterparts from Bahrain, the
UAE,
Oman, Morocco and Tunisia.
She admitted, however, that the Saudi foreign minister and Syria's foreign
minister deputy have refused to shake her hand. When asked if she tried to
interact with them, Livni replied: "I have never pushed anyone who refuses
to talks to me into the elevator...."
Nevertheless, despite these comments it seems in reality the situation was
completely different. Behind closed doors, according to the Wa****ngton
Post,
the frustrated Livni asked Arab foreign ministers why they refused to
interact with her.
"Why doesn't anyone want to shake my hand?" she asked. "Why doesn't anyone
want to be seen speaking to me?" With these words, Livni turned to Arab
foreign ministers in a closed meeting during the Annapolis conference. The
American daily noted that these comments were mainly directed at the
minister, Saud al-Faisal.
On his part, Frans Timmermans, the Dutch Minister for European Affairs,
said
Livni told Arab foreign ministers to stop treating her as a pariah. "They
shun her like she is Count Dracula's younger sister," he was quoted as
saying.
The Saudi foreign minister stated before the conference that he would not
shake hands with any Israeli representative during the conference, arguing
that doing so would only be a "theatrical act."
It should be mentioned that the Arab states which attended at the
conference
included Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab
Emirates,
and Yemen. Non-Arab Islamic states which participated were Indonesia,
Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey. At the end, Livni only managed to hold a
meeting with Salaheddin al-Ba****r, the Jordanian foreign minister whose
country maintains full diplomatic ties with Israel.
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