Six months after their meeting in Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met in preparation for the visit of US President Joe Biden.
The rare meeting on Thursday night took place on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and was intended to “discuss political and military coordination ahead of the visit of US President Joe Biden,” Mr Gantz’s office said in a brief statement. .
“The meeting was positive. The parties discussed the security and political challenges in the region (…) and agreed to continue their security coordination and avoid actions that could cause instability,” added the services of Mr. Gantz.
For his part, Mahmoud Abbas “underlined the importance” of “creating a political horizon” between the Israelis and the Palestinians and “the need to create a (positive) atmosphere before the visit of President Biden”. the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Gantz, the former chief of the national defense general staff and head of the centrist Blue and White faction, had met in December in Israel, sparking backlash in the Israeli political arena.
Their new meeting, in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, took place with less than a week left until the visit of US President Biden, as part of his first tour to the Middle East.
Mr Biden will be in Israel and the occupied West Bank from July 13 to 15, where he will hold meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, before moving on to Saudi Arabia.
Mr Lapid’s predecessor at the head of the Israeli government, Naftali Bennett, head of the radical right-wing Yamina party, said he was refusing to meet with Mahmoud Abbas.
After a visit this week to Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron, Yair Lapid, for his part, said he “does not rule out” a meeting with Mr Abbas, but clarified that it was not a “priority” as the new elections in Israel are approaching, on November 1st.
SOURCE: APE-ME
Source: Capital
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