GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed Sept. 8 that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have tentatively agreed to hold a meeting in Moscow in a step toward resuming political contacts between the two sides. Peace talks have been stalled since late 2010 due to Israel's ongoing settlement activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem. A date for the meeting has not yet been set.

The PA had set three conditions for the resumption of political negotiations with the Israelis: halting the construction of settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank, releasing the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and ending the Israeli occupation by 2017.

Israel, which rejected the terms, repeatedly stressed its willingness to resume negotiations with the Palestinians without preconditions. On Sept. 6, Abbas claimed Netanyahu requested to postpone the meeting. Israel responded Sept. 7 by publishing on the Israeli government's Channel 1 documents claiming Abbas worked as a KGB spy in Syria during the 1980s.” The move naturally angered the PA, according to which such false reports aimed to undermine Russia's efforts to resume the negotiations.

Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the PLO's Executive Committee, denied reports that Abbas agreed to sit down with Netanyahu to avoid Israeli plans to marginalize him both politically and on the ground. He said that Abbas agreed to sit down with Netanyahu to show Moscow how evasive Israel is being, as evidenced by Netanyahu’s reluctance to directly respond.