Former Israel prime minister Ehud Olmert says Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is a partner for peace, defiantly rejecting efforts by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to sideline the veteran leader.
Mr Olmert, Mr Netanyahu’s centrist predecessor who led Israel from 2006 to 2009, met Mr Abbas in New York hours after the Palestinian leader went before the UN Security Council to denounce US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan.
The former prime minister did not criticise Mr Trump’s plan, which paves the way for Israel to annex much of the West Bank, but said any future negotiations needed to involve Mr Abbas, 84, who is considered a moderate.
“He is a man of peace, he is opposed to terror, and therefore he is the only partner that we can deal with,” Mr Olmert said with Mr Abbas at his side.
“It will take some time but these negotiations will take place, and the partner of Israel to these negotiations will be Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority,” he said.
Hinting at Mr Netanyahu’s political woes, Mr Olmert said: “Who will be the partner on the Israeli side? We will know later this year.”
Mr Abbas, who succeeded Yasser Arafat in 2005, called Mr Olmert “my dear friend” and said he wanted to “extend my hand to the Israeli people”. “We want to achieve peace through peaceful means and negotiations,” he said. “We are against and do not want violence.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, had warned Mr Olmert against meeting Mr Abbas, who Mr Netanyahu’s government accuses of inciting unrest. Mr Danon told the Security Council that the Palestinians needed a new leader, saying Mr Abbas was unable to consider the “realistic” Trump proposals.
Read the article in The Australian (AFP).