RAMALLAH, West Bank — The so-called confidence-building steps recently announced by the Israeli government to strengthen the Palestinian Authority (PA) provoked mixed reactions among PA leaders. This follows a meeting in Ramallah Aug. 30 between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Security Minister Benny Gantz.

The Abbas-Gantz meeting sparked criticism and angry popular and factional reactions, especially as it neglected the political dimension, rather than focusing on the security and economic aspects. The meeting was preceded by repeated statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that he will not participate in launching a political process with the PA and will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Hours after the meeting, the Palestinian minister of civil affairs and lead liaison with the Israelis, Hussein al-Sheikh, announced that the Israeli government approved 5,000 family reunification requests for Palestinians. The next day, he tweeted that 4G mobile communications will soon be available in Palestine. Sheikh is one of the prominent leaders in the Fatah movement and is very close to Abbas. He was one of the key players in arranging the Abbas-Gantz meeting and the first to announce it in a tweet, saying that the meeting discussed “Palestinian-Israeli relations in all aspects.” 

Gantz’s office said, however, that the meeting discussed security, civil and economic policy issues, without referring to the political issue. It also confirmed Israel will loan the PA 500 million Israeli shekels ($155 million) to alleviate its financial crunch. The loan will be reimbursed from tax funds Israel normally collects on behalf of the Palestinians.