Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief negotiator in the current round of peace talks with the Palestinians, says substantial progress is being made, in spite of recent skepticism displayed by her Palestinian counterparts.
In an interview with Esti Perez on Israel Radio's program Midday, Livni told listeners that preventing failure in current negotiations will be difficult and will require her "experience and expertise," and added that she first and foremost intends to protect Israel's best interest.
Speaking about the recent interim agreement made in Geneva regarding halting Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting financial sanctions, she emphasized the coming six months, a deadline for Iran to show good faith over the deal, and described it as "influencing" time for Israel to have impact on a permanent deal.
At a peace conference in the Knesset on Monday, Livni suggested that Israel should stop being unhappy about the deal with Iran, and focus on peace with Palestinians.
She also pointed out that the six months in which countries will be negotiating a permanent accord with Iran are, not coincidentally, the same period left in the nine months US Secretary of State John Kerry allocated for talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
She said that rather than complain about the interim deal reached with Iran in Geneva, Israel can help get a better deal by doing its part in the peace talks.