"The situation of the Middle East peace process can afford no pause," Steinmeier, who's on a tour of the Middle East, said at the press conference following his consultations with Livni.

Earlier, after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Steinmeier said, "There is no alternative but to continue efforts to achieve rapprochement.

For her part, Livni said that unsettled Israeli domestic politics would not prevent her country from continuing peace negotiations. Prime Minister Olmert is under intense pressure to resign after criticism of his handling of Israel's military conflict with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon last summer.

Livni to meet Egypt and Jordan, Steinmeier to Saudi Arabia

Livni said she would meet with the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan on Thursday to discuss a plan put forward by Saudi Arabia to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The plan calls for Arab states to recognize Israeli in return for Israeli accepting an independent Palestinian state and withdrawing its troops to within its 1967 borders.

Livni said the initiative was unworkable in its current form since it could lead to stagnation. But she welcomed the general thrust of the plan and said Arab states could encourage moderates within the Palestinian Authority.

Steinmeier promised that the EU would do everything it could to support both sides in the negotiations.

He then left for Saudi Arabia, the last stop on his six-day tour of the Middle East.