Palestinian Authority officials on Thursday welcomed the election of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as chairwoman of Kadima and said they were looking forward to working with her to advance the peace process.
The officials said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was satisfied with Livni's victory because he believed that she is dedicated to the peace process.
They said that as head of the Israeli negotiating team, Livni had much more experience in conducting the talks with the Palestinians than any other senior Israeli government official.
"President Abbas is looking forward to working with Livni after she succeeds [Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert," said one official. "We believe that Livni will do her utmost to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations."
Another PA official pointed out that there had been tremendous concern among the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah over the possibility that Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz would win the Kadima primary.
"Mofaz is a Likud man and as such he's not much different from [Likud Chairman Benyamin] Netanyahu," the official said. "We also haven't forgotten the iron-fist policy which he employed against the Palestinians when he was [IDF] Chief of Staff and Defense Minister."
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