And Tzipi Livni Tries To Be Funny

Tzipi and Condi had a joint press conference.

Extracts:

QUESTION: The organization Peace Now reported today that Israeli settlement activity has nearly doubled in the past year, Foreign Minister Livni, how do you reconcile that with your stated goal of trying to reach a peace agreement?

FOREIGN MINISTER LIVNI: ...the peace process is not and should not be affected by any kind of settlement activities. I mean, at the end of the day, we are talking about the future borders of the Palestinian state, considering more than 40 years we are talking, plus minus, about the same blocks of settlements, and this is part of the negotiations...

I mean, it could have been easier also for me to use some excuses, and to say that this affects my ability to negotiate. But I decided not to do so, even in harder days of terror. So I would like to suggest my co-partners not to use it as an excuse. And I know that they are not using it as an excuse, but I understand the frustration sometimes.

But at the end of the day, the Israeli government policy is not to expand settlements, it's not to build new settlements, not to confiscate land from Palestinians. And, according to my knowledge, settlement activities reduced in the most dramatic way, especially in parts which are on the other side of the fence. There were some small activities that are not going to influence (inaudible) nor the future borders of the Palestinian state...

...Secretary Rice referred to the conflict, which is more than 40 years.

Tzipi, if you don't refer to the conflict as 80 years old, the Arabs are laughing at you. It's not the "disputed territories" taken in 1967, it's not the partition refused in 1947, it's not the Mandate rejected in 1923, it's not the Balfour Declaration condemned in 1917.

The conflict is the Jewish political sovereign prsence anywhere in the Land of Israel, since time immemorial.