Jerusalem – Minister of Defense in IsraelAnd Benny Gantz, this Tuesday, 28, with the boss Palestinian AuthorityAnd Mahmoud AbbasAt his home in the Israeli town of Rosh Ha’Ayin, according to the Defense Ministry’s office. Gantz serves as the government’s chief of staff for Palestinian Authority relations and is expected to meet with Abbas regularly. This is their second meeting in four months. The first was in Ramallah.
This is the first time since 2010 that Abbas has traveled to Israel to meet with Israeli officials. According to Gantz, the two discussed civil and security issues. According to the defense statement, Gantz told Abbas that he intends to continue to advance measures that “build confidence in the economic and civil spheres,” as outlined in the previous meeting.
According to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretzThe meeting lasted for two and a half hours and was attended by the coordinator of operations in the territories, Major General Rasan Alyan, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh, and the Palestinian security chief, Majed Faraj.
Palestinian Minister Al-Sheikh said that Abbas discussed with Gantz the importance of having a political horizon in order to reach a solution based on the decisions of the international community, according to the newspaper. Economic and humanitarian issues and tensions in the West Bank, such as clashes between Palestinians and settlers, were also discussed.
And after the two met at the end of August, The first high-level meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities since 2010The Israeli CEO announced a series of “confidence measures” that included a $155 million loan to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority. He also affirmed the determination to strengthen the Palestinian government in Ramallah and weaken the Islamic movement agitationwho controls Gaza strip.
Although these contacts have high symbolic value and represent an important rapprochement between the two parties, many analysts point out that they are still far from leading to a resumption of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, paralyzed since 2014.
Unlike Gantz, the prime minister Naftali Bennett He made it clear that he does not intend to meet Abbas or to move forward with the political process with the Palestinian Authority in the current period. Bennett also refrained from mentioning the Palestinians in his recent speech at the United Nations.
US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, who visited Israel last week, highlighted the importance the government sees in a two-state solution in its negotiations with Bennett and Gantz and its meeting with Abbas in Ramallah./ with EFE
