An official close to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday downplayed a meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, saying there won’t be any peace negotiations with the Palestinians,
The Times of Israel reports.
“This is a meeting that deals with security issues. There is no diplomatic process with the Palestinians nor will there be,” the official said in a statement.
Sunday’s meeting in Ramallah was the first high-level face-to-face discussion between the sides in over a decade.
It was approved in advance by Bennett, the official said on Monday on condition of anonymity.
A lawmaker in the left-wing Meretz party condemned the statement by the official and called for peace talks with the Palestinians.
“[This is an] outrageous message. Why not have a diplomatic process? A diplomatic process is in Israel’s interest,” Meretz MK Mossi Raz tweeted in response to the unnamed official’s statement.
A statement from Gantz’s office on Sunday night said the two discussed issues related to security, diplomacy, economics and civil affairs in wide-ranging talks.
“Gantz told [Abbas] that Israel is ready for a series of measures that would strengthen the PA economy,” the statement said.
“The two also discussed shaping the security, civilian and economic reality in Judea, Samaria and Gaza,” it added, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.
“President Mahmoud Abbas met this evening in Ramallah with Mr. Benny Gantz, where they discussed all aspects of Palestinian-Israeli relations,” tweeted senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh, a close confidant of Abbas and Ramallah’s chief liaison to Israel.
The talks come as Bennett returned from Washington after meeting with US President Joe Biden. Biden raised the Palestinian issue with the new Israeli leader during their discussions.
Bennett has vowed to prop up the ailing PA government and economy, although he has explicitly ruled out working to establish an independent Palestinian state.
“The meeting… is an encouraging sign and another expression of the positive change that the new government brings,” Meretz MK Yair Golan tweeted on Monday. “The complexity of the conflict needs to be resolved with dialogue — this is the proper Zionist act,” he added.
Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), who met his Palestinian counterpart a number of weeks ago, praised the Gantz-Abbas meeting.
“After a long and damaging disconnect of years with our closest neighbors, it is time to resume dialogue and cooperation with the PA,” he tweeted.
