BICOM

New Labour Party and opposition leader Isaac Herzog yesterday participated in his first official meeting in office with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Herzog pledged to back a potential peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Herzog last week defeated Shelly Yachimovich to become the new Labour party leader. The 53-year-old is an experienced former government minister and was head of the Labour Party Knesset faction prior to the leadership vote. By convention, the leader of the opposition meets monthly with the Prime Minister to discuss matters of state and yesterday saw Herzog and Netanyahu in this capacity for the first time.

Commenting on the meeting Herzog said, “I made clear to the prime minister that he should no longer delay deciding the Palestinian issue and if he chooses to make history Labour under me will give him the necessary support.” Peace talks between Israel and the PA have been ongoing since July, but have yet to deliver a breakthrough in concluding a comprehensive peace agreement. According to the Jerusalem Post, Herzog also informed Netanyahu that he intends to meet PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the near future.

According to Herzog’s office, the Labour leader criticised Netanyahu’s public opposition to the interim nuclear deal agreed last weekend between the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran. Herzog described Netanyahu’s public stance as “a mistake” and called on him to strengthen ties with Washington. Herzog reportedly met yesterday with Tony Blair, the Quartet’s Middle East envoy to discuss peace talks and Iran.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Army Radio, Herzog appeared to quash rumours that under his leadership, Labour would form a partnership with Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah Party, saying “Livni’s policies do not serve” the centre-left bloc but rather her own “personal interests.”