"Secret meeting: Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz meets with Morocco's King Mohammed VI at his palace."
"Labor leader says he is interested in introducing diplomatic initiative, opening new channels of dialogue with Arab world."
However, the meeting was far from secret.
Peretz flew to Morocco early Friday along with Uriella Ben Tzvi, who is in charge of foreign liaison at Labor's campaign headquarters for a meeting with King Mohammed VI at his palace.
The meeting followed a personal invitation extended by the king. In the meeting, Peretz and the king conversed in Arabic. A representative of Morocco's Jewish community was also present at the session.
The two figures met for more than an hour, with Peretz noting that in light of the dead-end created in the wake of Hamas' recent elections victory, he decided to introduce a diplomatic initiative aimed at opening new channels of dialogue with the Arab world.
Peretz added that in the current state of affairs Morocco can play a crucial role in advancing dialogue in the Middle East. The Labor party leader stressed "we are engaged in an uncompromising war with Hamas and with terror organizations, but not with the Arab world."
The king himself spoke about the great significance he attaches to his meeting with Peretz and noted he views the new initiative as a courageous, valuable step.
While Peretz was busy launching his diplomatic initiative in Morocco, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a strategic discussion on the ramifications of Hamas' rise to power.
The meeting participants, including Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra and heads of the defense establishment, decided not to allow Hamas parliament members living in the Gaza Strip to travel to the West Bank for Saturday's parliament meeting in Ramallah.
Therefore, the Palestinian Authority plans on airing the swearing-in ceremony of the new Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza through satellite.
The meeting attendees reached a number of other decisions defined as "secret." Hopefully those "secret" meetings looked at the inevitability of negotiations with Hamas - afterall, negotiations with a diplomatically elected government is a better option that a return to the days of rocket attacks and suicide bombers. To have Hamas in government is a very positive step towards peace - but don't hold your breath for Israel to reveal publically what they are doing behind the scenes. That may take a while.
Tags: Morocco, Israel, Maghreb, Hamas
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