In an interview with Israel's Channel 2 TV, Israeli Foreign Minister Livni said she had informal meetings with a number of Arab foreign ministers at the US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian summit in Annapolis. She mentioned in this regard that she held talks with her counterparts from Bahrain, the UAE, Oman, Morocco and Tunisia.
She admitted, however, that the Saudi foreign minister and Syria's foreign minister deputy have refused to shake her hand. When asked if she tried to interact with them, Livni replied: "I have never pushed anyone who refuses to talks to me into the elevator...."
Nevertheless, despite these comments it seems in reality the situation was completely different. Behind closed doors, according to the Washington Post, the frustrated Livni asked Arab foreign ministers why they refused to interact with her.
"Why doesn't anyone want to shake my hand?" she asked. "Why doesn't anyone want to be seen speaking to me?" With these words, Livni turned to Arab foreign ministers in a closed meeting during the Annapolis conference. The American daily noted that these comments were mainly directed at the minister, Saud al-Faisal.
On his part, Frans Timmermans, the Dutch Minister for European Affairs, said Livni told Arab foreign ministers to stop treating her as a pariah. "They shun her like she is Count Dracula's younger sister," he was quoted as saying.
The Saudi foreign minister stated before the conference that he would not shake hands with any Israeli representative during the conference, arguing that doing so would only be a "theatrical act."
It should be mentioned that the Arab states which attended at the conference included Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Non-Arab Islamic states which participated were Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey. At the end, Livni only managed to hold a meeting with Salaheddin al-Bashir, the Jordanian foreign minister whose country maintains full diplomatic ties with Israel.
