Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni – responsible for the Palestinian file in the peace negotiations – said that recognising the Jewish State will not be a condition for reviving negotiations with Palestinians, a diplomatic foreign source said.  

Ma'an news agency reported that Maariv's website said on Monday that Livni acted without authorisation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuon on this issue. Livni expressed his conviction that Netanyahu's condition will pose a real hurdle to negotiations.

The website added that Palestinians will not recognise Israel; any refusal to hold negotiations regardless of the recognition issue would show that Israel is not serious about the peace process. Because of these reasons, Livni, according to the foreign source, will begin negotiations with admitting a two-state solution, rather than on the precondition of recognizing the Jewish state.