Israel’s Defence Minister Benny Gantz held a meeting on Thursday with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel and the West Bank next week.
There are reportedly concerns in Israel’s security establishment that Biden's visit could lead to escalation in the West Bank, but Gantz’s office said that the meeting “was conducted on positive terms”, and the pair agreed to continue security coordination.
During their two-hour meeting, the two figures discussed civilian cooperation, as well as “the complexities of the upcoming period in Israel,” according to Gantz’s office, seemingly referring to the election due to take place in the coming months.
Gantz also wished Abbas and the Palestinian people a happy Eid al-Adha, which begins on Saturday night.
Senior Palestinian aide Hussein al-Sheikh said Abbas “stressed the importance of creating a political horizon, respecting the signed agreements and stopping the actions and measures that lead to the deterioration of the situation.”
Separately, Israel’s caretaker prime minister, Yair Lapid, held a call with Abbas on Friday afternoon, which was the first direct phone call between the Israeli prime minister and the boss of the Palestinian Authority in a number of years.
Lapid's office said in a statement: "Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke today by phone with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The PA Chairman congratulated the Prime Minister on assuming office; the Prime Minister extended his best wishes to the PA Chairman on the occasion of the Eid al-Adha holiday."
The statement added that the pair discussed “the continuation of cooperation, and the need to ensure quiet and calm”.
Israel’s president Isaac Herzog also spoke with Abbas to discuss Biden’s upcoming visit, as well as to wish him and the Palestinian people a happy Eid al-Adha.
On Tuesday on a visit to Paris, Lapid said that he would not rule out the possibility of meeting Abbas, something that his predecessor Naftali Bennett categorically ruled out: “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.”
Biden is set to land at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday next week, where Lapid will greet him with an official welcome ceremony. Officials and parts of the US president’s security apparatus, including armoured cars, have already started arriving in Israel.
No substantive announcements are expected from either Lapid or Biden during the visit that will explore Israeli security systems, which are partially US-funded, as well as a press conference.
Biden will meet with Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, and is expected to announce a number of steps aimed at strengthening the PA.
Biden will then depart Israel and continue to Saudi Arabia for the GCC+3 summit on Saturday in Jeddah with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE along with Iraq, Egypt and Jordan.
