The highest-level contact between Israeli and Palestinian officials in four months took place in New York on Monday night when Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas met with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The 90-minute meeting was described as "very, very positive" by ‘Abbas and "very good, important and constructive" by Livni. Atop the agenda was the matter of Israel’s kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit, but no details were provided by either side. A Palestinian spokesman did, however, tell reporters that the Palestinians are exerting "maximum effort" to obtain Shalit’s release and want Israel to release Palestinian prisoners it holds, including members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Monday that Israel was prepared to release more Palestinian prisoners than had been expected. ‘Abbas and Livni also discussed ways of returning to the Road Map peace plan. Although it had been unofficially declared dead by both Israeli and Palestinian politicians, the internationally sponsored plan is now returning to favor since Israeli Prime Minister’s Ehud Olmert’s plans for a unilateral withdrawal from most of the West Bank were shattered by the recent violence in the region.