The Saudi prince, the former ambassador to Washington who also headed his government’s intelligence apparatus, is thought to be an emissary in the eyes of Western diplomats given his intimate familiarity with Riyadh’s foreign policymakers, Israel Radio reported on Sunday.

Turki and Livni discussed the Saudi peace initiative. Introduced in 2002 under the auspices of the Arab League, the proposal entails full normalization between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries in exchange for a withdrawal to the 1967 lines.

Despite the attempts, made by Saudi Arabia to approach the Arab nations with the Israeli regime, Arabs especially Palestinians observe any move towards Middle East peace as doomed to failure.

According to Israel Radio, Turki told Livni that the House of Saud was pleased she was named as head of the negotiating team in talks with the Palestinians since it would “ensure that [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu would not be so difficult.”

Livni responded that she viewed the Arab initiative as “very positive,” adding that the Israeli leadership “believes that the price of not reaching an agreement is steeper than reaching an agreement.”

According to Israel Radio, the so-called justice minister added that while Israel won’t be enamored with every single aspect of the framework agreement being drafted by US Secretary of State John Kerry, “Israel can live with it.”

Acting Chief of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has recently warned that without East al-Quds as the capital of the future Palestinian state, there will be no peace with Israeli regime.

In June 2013, leaders of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to boycott Israel opposed any peace talks, even if they include a long-demanded freeze of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.

NTJ/HH