Israeli minister urges patience over Mideast peace talks

(BRUSSELS) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the international community to allow Israel and the Palestinians to pursue peace talks at their own pace, warning that deadlines could be counterproductive.

"The eagerness of the international community can lead to a failure that nobody can afford," Livni told the European parliament's foreign affairs committee in Brussels.

She said that in this regard Israel and the Palestinians "have the same language, asking the world to support the process only by giving support and legitimacy to the Annapolis process, giving us the time to continue the negotiations."

At last year's US-sponsored Annapolis session, Israel and the Palestinians pledged to seek a peace deal by the end of 2008.

An international Middle peace quartet, composed of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, is enabling the process.

"Let us continue this process in the most discreet way because we have the trust that was built between Israel and the Palestinians since Annapolis

"Even though it takes more time, any idea of trying to bridge gaps when things are premature, this can lead to a clash, deterioration and violence," she warned.

Outgoing US President George W. Bush is keen to see a peace deal reach before he leaves office, though Washington admits that a deal before the end of the year is impossible.

Livni, criticised by the MEPs on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has closed access points due to Palestinian attacks from there, defended her government's policy.

"Do do you think that I, as a human being, want them to suffer? I don't want to, but put yourself in my position, what are the options?" she asked.

"I don't have the miracle situation how to delegitimise a regime, how to fight terror, without any impact on the population."