PA ‘encouraged’ by Gantz remarks on possible West Bank pullback

The spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spokesman welcomes remarks made by Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz, who raised the possibility of an Israeli pullback from the West Bank.

“It is encouraging if he succeeds and he sticks to this opinion,” Nabil Abu Rudeinah tells journalists in Ramallah.

But he says they needed more details about Gantz’s policies.

“We don’t know him yet, we heard about him. As President Abbas keeps saying all that we need is an Israeli government that believes in peace.”

Earlier, Gantz told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily that Israel 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip had been “approved by the Israeli government and implemented by the army and settlers in a painful but good way.

“(One should) learn from it and apply it to other places,” the ex- IDF chief said.

Gantz did not explicitly mention the West Bank in his remarks and refrained from outlining conditions for any pullback from the West Bank.

His comments drew criticism from Netanyahu and other right-wing lawmakers who accused Gantz of being “leftist.”