(Communicated by the Foreign Minister's Bureau)
Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni will travel to Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday, 25 December. They will discuss the security situation in the south and other issues of mutual interest. FM Livni will also meet with her counterpart, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, and with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suliman.
Earlier FM Livni spoke by phone with FM Gheit about the rocket fire from Gaza, and said that Israel is obliged to defense its citizens.
FM Livni also spoke with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She said that Israel takes a grave view of the ongoing fire at Israeli communities and cannot remain indifferent to the deteriorating security situation in the south. "We cannot accept a situation in which Hamas continues to attack Israeli civilians in cities and communities within Israeli sovereign territory."