From the Liveblog of
Monday, September 5, 2016
PA source denies Abbas willing to meet Netanyahu
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleA senior Palestinian Authority source denies a Russian report saying Abbas has agreed to meet Netanyahu for direct talks in Moscow.
The PA has yet to receive an Israeli response to its preconditions for holding such a summit, the source says. He adds that Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Middle East envoy, will arrive in Ramallah tomorrow to convey Netanyahu’s response to those demands.
The source emphasizes that the entire Palestinian leadership is united in the demand that Israel commit to a settlement freeze and a prisoner release before such a meeting can take place.
In addition, the source says he is “puzzled” by the fact that news of Abbas’s ostensible willingness to meet Netanyahu first appeared in Russian, rather than PA, media.
— Avi Issacharoff
The Times of Israel Community.