A senior White House official says even though the Trump administration has not had contact with Palestinian leadership since Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem on December 6, there has been communication with non-official individuals.
“There’s a difference between the Palestinian leadership and Palestinians,” the official says.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the PLO Central Committee in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 14, 2018. (Flash90)
“One of the tragic things that I have noticed since December 6th is there are so many Palestinians who are reaching out…over the past 12 months, both in the West Bank and Gaza and Palestinian Americans. They all want to continue to talk, but they’re all afraid to talk. So they’re asking…for quiet meetings, private meetings.
He adds: “They’re under a lot of pressure not to talk. It doesn’t bode well for what we’re trying to create if there’s no freedom of speech among the Palestinians, so that troubles me greatly. And we’re trying to figure out how to deal with it.”
He affirms that negotiators Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner have not spoken to the Palestinian Authority leadership since December 6.
— with Raphael Ahren
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
