The foreign ministers of Israel and Qatar met on the sidelines of the UN summit yesterday, a sign of further movement toward improving relations between the Jewish state and the Arab world in the wake of Israel's Gaza withdrawal. The talks — a first step in efforts to arrange an Israeli-Qatari summit — came a day after Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, urged Arab nations to open up to the Jewish state. In line with that trend, Sheikh Hamad said it was possible for Qatar to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel before the formation of an independent Palestine. "It could happen," he told reporters before heading into closed meetings with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. "But we need to see a timetable — how we will start the peace process and how we will end."