Bennett rules out meeting Abbas, but not economic cooperation
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday that he will not meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but he showed willingness to support economic and business ties with the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated Tuesday that unlike Defense Minister Benny Gantz, he himself has no intention of meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"My perception is different than that of the defense minister, although we work in harmony," Bennett said to Ynet. "I oppose a Palestinian state and I think it would be a grave mistake to import the failed Gaza model of Hamas which shoots rockets at us, and turn the entire West Bank to that. I see no logic in meeting Abbas when he's suing our soldiers in the Hague and accuses our commanders of war crimes. In my opinion, the Palestinian Authority is a failed entity."
Gantz met with Abbas in Ramallah on Aug. 29, and announced a series of trust-building gestures afterward. These included the registration of thousands of West Bank Palestinian businesses for digital payments (ensuring that the Palestinian Authority receives an added 10 million shekels in taxes from those businesses), a half-billion-shekel loan to the Palestinian Authority and more. The meeting was reportedly approved by Bennett, but it is not clear whether the measures offered by Gantz were also approved specifically by the prime minister.
Gantz was not the only senior official to contact Abbas recently. On Sept. 6, Abbas called President Isaac Herzog, wishing him a happy Jewish new year and expressing hopes for increased cooperation with Israel. After the phone call, Herzog issued a statement saying the two men “expressed hope that the new year will bring with it more cooperation and dialogue that will bring hope for both peoples.”
