LPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz discussed “security and economy” on Tuesday evening, December 28, during a meeting held, according to the Israeli press, in Israel, a first in years. .
“I met this evening (Tuesday) the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. We discussed the implementation of economic and civil measures, and the importance of strengthening our security coordination […] Benny Gantz wrote on Twitter shortly after his ministry announced a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas.
This evening I met with PA President, Mahmoud Abbas. We discussed the implementation of economic and civilian measures, and emphasized the importance of deepening security coordination and preventing terror and violence – for the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians.
– בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) December 28, 2021
On the Palestinian side, the Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh, a close friend of Mahmoud Abbas, indicated on Twitter that this meeting had focused on “security, economic and humanitarian” issues, on “tensions” linked to the activities of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and on “the importance of creating a political horizon” in order to achieve a “solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
التقى مساء اليوم السيد الرئيس محمود عباس بالوزير بني جانتس, حيث تناول الاجتماع اهمية خلق افق سياسي يؤدي الى حل سياسي وفق قرارات الشرعية الدوليه, وكذلك الاوضاع الميدانيه المتوتره بسبب ممارسات المستوطنين, وتناول الاجتماع العديد من القضايا الامنية والاقتصادية والانسانية.
– حسين الشيخ Hussein Al Sheikh (@HusseinSheikhpl) December 28, 2021
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Mahmoud Abbas in Israel, a first since 2010
The Israeli Minister of Defense and the Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs did not specify the location of the meeting. According to the Israeli press, it was held at Benny Gantz’s residence in Rosh Haayin, in central Israel.
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Following the coming to power in June of the coalition government led by Naftali Bennett, Israeli ministers, including Benny Gantz, visited Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority. But it would be the first time since 2010 that Mahmoud Abbas has visited Israel for an official meeting with a member of the Israeli government.
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The Likud party (right) of opposition leader Benyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister from 2009 to last June and virulent critic of the Palestinian president, condemned in a statement this meeting Abbas-Gantz which led according to him to “dangerous concessions for Israel’s security ”.
A meeting condemned by Hamas
The government of Naftali Bennett, moreover supported by an Arab party, a first in the history of Israel, “put the Palestinians and Abbas back on the agenda and that is dangerous for Israel”, added the party. of right. The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip under Israeli blockade, also condemned the meeting, considering that it strayed from “the national spirit of our Palestinian people”.
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“This behavior of the leadership of the Palestinian Authority worsens the Palestinian political divide, complicates the Palestinian situation, encourages some in the region who want to normalize with the occupier and weakens the Palestinian position which rejects normalization” with Israel, he said. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem in a statement.
The Abbas-Gantz meeting comes less than a week after the visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan who had discussed with Mahmoud Abbas “the resumption of a significant level of economic aid and development ”from the United States.
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The current Israeli government says it wants to discuss ways to “improve” the standard of living of Palestinians, without however seeking to embark on new peace negotiations. Peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians have stalled since 2014. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former leader of the pro-settlement movement in the West Bank, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.