From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Abbas pens letter to Trump hailing him for Iran ceasefire, reiterating readiness for peace with Israel
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas pens a letter to Donald Trump in which he hails the US president for securing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran and reiterates his readiness to reach a comprehensive peace deal with Israel.
Abbas says the Iran ceasefire is an important step toward defusing broader regional tensions.
The PA president thanked Trump for his recent “courageous” calls to end the war in Gaza.
“This constitutes an additional step in [your] important efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace between us, the Israelis, and the entire world,” Abbas writes.
The letter states Abbas “reiterated our full readiness to work closely with [Trump] and relevant Arab and international parties to immediately negotiate and implement a comprehensive peace agreement within a clear and binding timeframe that ends the occupation and achieves security and stability for all, a just and lasting peace.”
“With you, we can achieve what seemed impossible: a recognized, free, sovereign and secure Palestine, a recognized and secure Israel, and a region that enjoys peace, prosperity and integration,” Abbas tells Trump.
Abbas has been working for months to curry favor in the eyes of the Trump administration, signing a decree that ended a controversial policy that granted welfare stipends to the families of slain terrorists and Palestinian security prisoners based on the length of their sentence.
Abbas has repeatedly condemned Hamas and demanded the release of the hostages, and earlier this month, he condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack for the first time.
But Washington’s attention has largely been elsewhere, and its contacts with Ramallah have been very limited. US hostage envoy Adam Boehler held unprecedented meetings with Hamas officials earlier this year to try and secure the release of American hostages, while Trump has not spoken to Abbas since a November call in which the PA president congratulated Trump on his election victory.
The Times of Israel Community.