Abbas Says He’s Ready to Meet Netanyahu Under Auspices of Trump
by JNS.org
JNS.org -Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he was ready to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of President Donald Trump’s renewed peace efforts.
“We affirmed to [Trump] that we are ready to cooperate with him and meet the Israeli prime minister under his auspices in order to make peace,” Abbas told reporters during a joint press conference with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The PA leader also stated he anticipated a meeting with Trump during the US president’s first foreign trip abroad, saying, “We are looking forward to [Trump’s] visit soon to Bethlehem.”
This is the second time in a month that Abbas has stated his willingness to meet with Netanyahu. In April, the PA president told the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun he was “ready to meet the prime minister of Israel anytime in Washington under the patronage of President Trump.” But in the same interview, Abbas said peace talks “will be impossible as far as Israel’s colonial-settlement enterprises continues.”
During Tuesday’s press conference, Abbas said he was committed to a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 lines.