Livni: Halting negotiations will serve Hamas

Halting ongoing peace negotiations with the Palestinians will simply play into Hamas' hands, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Monday during a no-confidence discussion at the Knesset.

The no-confidence motion was submitted by Yisrael Beiteinu, following the government's decision to continue talks with the PA despite the rocket attacks on Israel.

According to Livni, "the negotiations are intended to set and preserve Israel's principles, which are being eroded with the passage of time."

"If there are no talks, will terror stop?" Livni rhetorically asked the Knesset plenum. "If negotiations are halted, this will leave the playing field entirely in Hamas' hands," she added.  

"I don’t walk into the negotiating room like a Santa Claus bearing gifts for the Palestinians. I represent Israel's interests," Livni stressed.

"We need to give hope to the children of Sderot. Halting the negotiations would cost us our future. The talks are not a perk to the Palestinians or a gift to the Americans," the foreign minister added.

After her speech, Livni told Ynet that "we have a duty to defend Sderot, but we also have a duty to take care of the future of Sderot's children." Negotiations would continue, she said, "in order to create a better future for Israel." 

Earlier Monday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director-General, Aaron Abramovich, criticized statements made by Sir John Holmes, UN undersecretary- general for humanitarian affairs, in which the latter described the situation in Sderot as part of a “continuing cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Following a Monday meeting with Holmes, Abramovich noted that these type of statements “create a moral equivalency between terrorists and those impacted by terror,” and serve to encourage and embolden terrorist factions.