Tzipi Livni
Tzipi LivniYonatan Sindel, Flash 90

MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) on Tuesday night met Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in a New York hotel.

The Israel Hayom daily quoted Livni as requesting that Abbas return to negotiation in order to prevent a further deterioration of the PA-Israel relationship. Refusal, she said, serves the extremists.

"We need to act in order to prevent deterioration," Livni told him. "It's important that you join us in finding a solution before Gaza officially turns into 'Hamastan,' and it's important that you return to negotiations with the US before the two-state solution disappears."

According to Livni, "seclusion, one sided procedures against Israel and wanton destruction will be an eternal tragedy. They may lead to deterioration on the ground, a loss of control, and the loss of the two-state solution. Instead of Hamastan, the PA needs to work towards a solution in Gaza. Instead of attacking the US, [the PA] needs to return to discussions with it. The severity of the situation obligates all of us to look for ways to bring calm - without building walls of anger and insults.

Israel Hayom also quoted Livni as telling Abbas to "Return to discussions with the US, based on the two-state solution, with a Palestinian state next to Israel. Not because of the punishments and budget cuts, but in spite of them - even if you have concerns and anger, and even if you don't agree with all of the conditions."

Livni also claimed that "the opposition and most of the Israeli public support a two-state solution but oppose the one-sided procedures against Israel in international forums, payments to terrorists' families, and actions in the International Criminal Court. [These] aren't acceptable, cause a loss of faith, and strengthen the extremists."