Abbas and Fayyad send condolence letters to Netanyahu
PM not working regular schedule during mourning period for his father, but met officials Tuesday and eulogized a former colleague
Raphael Ahren is a former diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.
The Palestinian leadership expressed its condolences Tuesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose father Benzion passed away Monday at the age of 102. Both Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad sent letters of condolence to Netanyahu, The Times of Israel has learned.
Although Netanyahu had promised to respond within two weeks to a letter Abbas sent him on April 17, his office has not yet replied, since the prime minister is not working on his regular schedule during the seven-day mourning period for his father.
However, Netanyahu is receiving visitors — on Tuesday he met with US Senator John Kerry and a high-ranking Australian official — and is being briefed by his staff on all matters of national importance.
The April 17 letter, in which Abbas outlines his conditions for a resumption of peace talks, was handed to Netanyahu by Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator, and Majid Faraj, the PA’s head of General Intelligence. It included demands for Israel to cease building across the Green Line, release all prisoners and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with possible small adjustments. “Both sides hope this exchange of letters will help find a way to advance peace,” according to a joint statement released after the meeting.
Netanyahu’s office this Tuesday released a statement saying that the prime minister is deeply sorry about the passing of former Deputy Knesset Speaker Mordechai Virshubski. “Mordechai was a great fighter for civil rights and a beacon of wisdom and integrity. We will warmly remember his welcome activity on behalf of the handicapped, society and the environment,” the statement quotes the prime minister as saying.
Benzion Netanyahu, a renowned historian and former aide to Revionist Zionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky, passed away Monday morning in his house in Jerusalem’s Haportzim Street. He was a major influence on the thinking of the prime minister.
The Times of Israel Community.