The newly-appointed head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency held a secret meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah last week, sources said Tuesday.
During the meeting, the two discussed a number of issues, including the deteriorating economic situation in the Palestinian Authority and its continued security cooperation with Israel.
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Ronen Bar, the newly-appointed head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
(Photo: Reuters, Yair Sagi)
Ronen Bar's visit follows a series of meetings between the Palestinian leader and Israeli officials.
In August, Defense Minister Benny Gantz also met with Abbas in Ramallah, making it the highest-level meeting between the Palestinian president and an Israeli minister since 2010. Gantz told Abbas that Israel would take measures to strengthen the Palestinian economy, according to a statement from his office.
"They also discussed shaping the security and economic situations in the West Bank and in Gaza," the statement said. "They agreed to continue communicating further on the issues that were raised during the meeting."
In September, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, Regional Cooperation Minister Iswai Frej and Meretz's Knesset faction leader Michal Rozin met with Abbas.
Horowitz said his left-wing party Meretz was working to "keep the two-state solution alive" within the current government.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (center-left) meets with Meretz ministers Nitzan Horowitz (left) and Isawi Frej (center-right) in Ramallah on Sunday
(Photo: Meretz)
"Do not let it disappear, and do not sabotage the chance of reaching it in the future, because there is no other solution," he said.
Abbas appeared to acknowledge this, saying he was prepared to meet with all members of the coalition, inviting them to Ramallah.
"We must begin to create confidence-building measures, to prove that we intend to make peace, and to enable me to protect the hope of the Palestinian people. If we lose hope, we lose the future," a statement by Meretz quoted Abbas as saying.
He specifically mentioned his interest in speaking with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who flatly rejected the proposal on Twitter, saying she would not meet with "a Holocaust denier who is suing Israel soldiers at The Hague and paying murderers of Jews."