Livni gives Netanyahu tacit support

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding a meeting with his faction at the Knesset less than 24 hours after his speech accepting the creation of a Palestinian state but only if it is demilitarised.

His words have been met with strong opposition from within his right-wing Likud party but Tzipi Livni, the leader of the centrist opposition Kadima party has given the prime minister her qualified support “The prime minister made a step in the right direction,” she said. “A step forward, albeit late and with hesitation, under pressure and with many ifs and buts, but words in the right direction, and I believe it’s good, the things said yesterday, things that should be said.” Livni went on to say she wants to see the prime minister’s words translated into actions. Netanyahu’s conditional acceptance of a two-state solution is the subject of fevered debate on the streets of Israel.

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