Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he is “perfectly open” to meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to halt the current wave of terror that has been sweeping the country in recent weeks.
Netanyahu said he is willing to resume peace talks “right now,” but at the same time accused Abbas of lying and of inciting terrorism, and argued that it is impossible to conduct peace negotiations while the PA promotes violence against Israel.
It is neither the absence of peace talks nor Israeli settlement activity that leads to terrorism, but rather the Palestinians’ unwillingness to accept the State of Israel, he said.
At a press conference in Jerusalem, the prime minister confirmed reports that US Secretary of State has proposed a summit, possibly in Amman, with Abbas and the Jordanian king, in a bid to put an end to the unrest in Israel and the West Bank.
“It’s potentially useful because it might stop the wave of incitement and the false allegations against Israel. So I’d be open to meetings with Arab leaders, and Palestinian leadership in order to stop this incitement,” he told reporters at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu stressed that he had called for the resumption of talks on numerous occasions, but that the Palestinian leader has consistently refusing to return to the negotiating table. “I’ve called on President Abbas to resume unconditional negotiations immediately. Right now as we speak we can meet. I have no problem with that,” he said. “I’m willing to meet him. He’s not willing to meet me.”
Read more at Times of Israel
