News Brief

Livni: Sarkozy understands ‘threat’ to Israel

France understands the “threat” Israel faces, Tzipi Livni said after meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“President Sarkozy knows the situation well, and the complexities in our region. He understands the nature of the threat to which Israel is confronted,” Israel’s foreign minister told journalists as she left the Elysee Palace in Paris Thursday evening.

In response to questions about an eventual cease-fire, Livni said, “the decision that the operation has met its objectives, will be made according to daily evaluations,” reported the French Press Agency, AFP, following her meeting with Sarkozy.

Livni also told reporters that the “humanitarian situation in Gaza is exactly how it should be.”

“Here there is an impression that Israel does not want a cease-fire. That is not the issue,” Livni said earlier in an interview with French television, i-tele.

“Our ability to enter into a cease-fire is linked to a halt by Hamas of rocket attacks on our Israeli citizens,” she said.

Sarkozy plans to visit Israel on Monday, after stopping in Egypt and then Ramallah to speak with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. On Tuesday he will fly to Syria to encourage Syrian President Bashar Assad to push Hamas toward a peace deal.

A presidential spokesperson told the French daily le Monde that Sarkozy is stopping in Egypt in hopes of encouraging its president, Hosni Mubarak, to resume its mediation role between Israel and Hamas, despite its unpopularity among Palestinian militants.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will also visit Israel with Swedish and Czech foreign ministers on Monday, in preparation for Sarkozy’s visit.