Tzipi Livni, the Israeli cabinet minister in charge of peace talks, described this as "very positive news". She told Army radio: "In the tumultuous world around, it could allow the Palestinians to enter the room and make the needed compromises and it sends a message to the Israeli public that this is not just about us and the Palestinians," she added. "There is a group of Arab states who are saying: you reach an agreement with the Palestinians and we will make peace with you, we will have normalisation with you."