Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will attend a Quartet conference on the Middle East peace process scheduled for next Sunday in Egypt, local news service Ynet reported Sunday.
The top Israeli diplomat, who has been leading the Israeli team in negotiations with the Palestinians, will then give a rare joint briefing on the status quo of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks alongside top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, added the report.
The upcoming gathering of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el- Sheikh is aimed to mark the first anniversary of the Annapolis conference, at which Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged to reach a comprehensive peace deal before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January.
Little tangible progress has been achieved on the Israeli- Palestinian track since the Annapolis conference.
As Israel is heading to a snap election in February and the United States is also changing leadership, the ambitious Annapolis goal is seemingly drifting further out of reach.
The United States will be represented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is due to pay her eighth visit to the hot spot on Wednesday since the Annapolis conference.
The top U.S. diplomat will meet with leaders of Israel, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and some other Arab governments ahead of the Quartet meeting in a bid to coordinate a shared message, according to the Ynet report.