From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 3, 2022
Lapid: I may meet with Abbas as premeier, but there won’t be any peace talks
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid says the Israeli government’s policy of not holding diplomatic negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will remain in place when he becomes prime minister as well.
“I don’t think that five million Palestinians will disappear, but within the current political context, even after [I rotate in as prime minister], the coalition will be obligated to already reached agreements, and I will abide by every agreement that I made with my partners,” Lapid says in a briefing with reporters earlier today, indicating that part of his agreement with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett upon forming a government was that neither of them would hold peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
However, Lapid says that contrary to Bennett, he is prepared to meet with Abbas if necessary.
