Peace talks strike up heated debate in Israeli cabinet

A heated debate emerged on Sunday 's weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday, regarding the peace talk with the Palestinians and the level of incitement against Israel in the Palestinian Authority, the Ha'aretz daily reported. The cabinet was not supposed to discuss the topic in advance, according to a schedule released last week by the Prime Minister's Office. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed the topic to Sunday's meeting agenda as it is now the Israeli official line against the Palestinian Authority amid the deterioration of the talks, in Israel's attempt to influence Kerry while he is operating shuttle diplomacy between both sides, to its advantage. Netanyahu said he "doubts" the Palestinians' commitment to the peace talks amid what he dubbed the incitement against Israel in the Palestinian Authority. On Sunday, during the special discussion, hawkish defense minister Moshe Ya'alon said that as long as the Palestinians refuse to change school textbooks no peace could be carried out between the people, Ha'aretz reported. On the other hand, the dovish Tzipi Livni, who is Israel's chief negotiator in the talks with the Palestinians, said that the incitement against Israel only stresses the need to reach a diplomatic solution based on the two-state outline. "It's a difficult reality, but it's not a reason to stop working towards an agreement," Livni said. "Palestinian incitement is a threat, it's terrible to teach children to hate. Therefore, I don't understand those here who do not want to reach an agreement. It's our responsibility to act and create a solution, not grumble over our fate and complain they hate and incite against us," she added. She added the conflict should only be resolved by a peaceful solution and only then should the parties take care of the problem of incitement. "The conflict will only be solved by an agreement with mutual recognition. Then it will be possible to demand that a culture of peace be upheld, and that incitement would be prevented," she said.