Palestinian Media: Abbas and Trump to meet in April
Trump and Abbas first spoke by phone last Friday.
By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUADonald Trump (L) and Mahmoud Abbas (R)(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian media reported over the weekend that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was going to meet US President Donald Trump in mid-April.The report stated that Abbas received an official invitation from the White House.A spokesman for Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeina, confirmed that he had received an invitation to the White House to discuss resuming negotiations.Trump invites Palestinian leader Abbas to White House (credit: REUTERS)The spokesman also stressed that the PA is committed to a peace process that will bring a true peace to both Israelis and Palestinians.Trump and Abbas first spoke by phone last Friday. During the conversation Trump told Abbas: “Peace is possible and that the time has come to make a deal,” underscoring that an agreement must be negotiated directly between the two parties.Trump’s special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt met with Abbas this past Tuesday.Following the meeting Abbas told Al-Watan, a Qatari publication, “Greenblatt did not offer ideas or bring proposals with him; he came to listen and learn what we are thinking and to pass that along to President Trump.”Greenblatt wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening that his meeting with Abbas was “positive” and “far-reaching,” and that they discussed forging a peace deal, stopping incitement and building the capacity of the PA security forces.