Reacting to the Haim Ramon scandal, in which the Kadima chairman was accused of advising PA negotiator Saeb Erekat to refuse to participate in direct talks with Israel, President Shimon Peres' office said that Peres had never asked Ramon to meet with Erekat. A witness at the meeting between Ramon and Erekat said that Ramon had told him that he was being sent by Peres to hold the meeting, but Pere's office said that the contention was a lie.
“President Peres meets all the time with senior politicians from around the world, including from the PA, and he does not need go-betweens,” an official in Peres' office said.