Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke June 8 over the phone with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. It was the first direct call between an Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian leader since 2017, when then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Abbas. The 2017 conversation came after an attack near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where Arab assailants shot and killed two Israeli police officers.

The July 8 phone conversation was part of a round of calls Lapid was making to offer Muslim leaders best wishes ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday on July 9. According to a statement by Lapid’s office, the two leaders discussed US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel this week, and in particular “the continuation of cooperation and the need to ensure quiet and calm.”

On an official visit to Paris July 5, Lapid told reporters that while he would not rule out the possibility of a meeting with Abbas, there were currently no immediate plans for talks to take place. “I do not have meetings for the sake of meetings unless they have a positive result for Israel. At the moment it is not on the agenda, but I do not rule it out,” said Lapid.

Lapid made that statement after holding a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace with French President Emmanuel Macron, where the latter called on the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to resume the two-state solution talks. Reports later on said that among other issues, Macron also raised the matter of settlement construction. Lapid told reporters that he said to his French counterpart that while existing settlements would be allowed to expand, there would be no new settlements.