Livni ready to visit any Arab country to build bridges

Doha: Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni wrapped up a three-day visit to Qatar on Tuesday aimed at upgrading diplomatic ties, and extended other Gulf States an invitation to normalise relations.

It was the first time a Gulf state offered a top Israeli official a public platform, a move that observers at the conference described as part of Qatar's foreign policy and consolidated its intermediary role between Israel and the rest of the region.

"This is a special opportunity for me, I know it was not easy [for Qatar] to arrange this," Livni told some 300 policymakers, former leaders and members of parliaments from across the world who gathered in Doha for a Forum on Democracy and development which concluded here yesterday.

During a 20-minute address, Livni made Israel's case, and touched upon Israel's decision to deal with 'pragmatic Palestinians', labelling Hamas the sponsor of terror attacks from Gaza and Hezbollah as the long-hand of Iran in Lebanon.

She then appealed to "moderate Muslim regimes and Arab states" extending "Israel's hand in friendship", calling on Arabs to normalise ties, support the joint decisions taken by Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, without "putting conditions".

But her remarks ruffled the audience who received it with little enthusiasm.

"You speak of dialogue when Israel did not hesitate to make war on Leb-anon in retaliation for an attack by Hezbollah. You speak of Israeli soldiers held captive when hundreds of Palestinians are being detained illegally. Violence is not going to produce the theatre for peace that you wish for," said Qatari intellectual Ahmad Abdul Malek.

Discrimination

Knesset member Ahmad Tibi called Israel "an apartheid state" which discriminates against its Arab and non-Jewish minority and said it could provide no lesson on democracy.

But Livni tried to make the best use of the first opportunity to address Arab leaders and when the panelists led by Al Jazeera's presenter Riz Khan were about to leave, she grabbed the microphone once more to say "she was ready to go to any Arab country where she was invited".