Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova of the Zionist Camp met with senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub in Ramallah on Dec. 30. At this moment, when Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are on a collision course and far from even talking about renewing negotiations between them, a meeting between an Israeli Knesset member and a close associate of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is no trivial matter.
The meeting took place at the request of Rajoub, who sought to send a message to the Israeli political establishment and the Israeli public. Before entering politics, Svetlova was a respected journalist on Arab affairs at the Russian-language Channel 9. She knows the conflict with the Palestinians well and is currently a member of a party that espouses the two-state vision.
