Netanyahu: Israelis, not Palestinians, are teaching kids peace

“The president [Trump] wants to examine ways to renew the peace process with the Palestinians. I share this desire as do the citizens of Israel,”

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: MAY 7, 2017 15:20
Netanyahu and Abbas (photo credit: REUTERS)
Netanyahu and Abbas
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged his commitment to US President Donald Trump’s new peace initiative even as he warned against Palestinian incitement.
“The president wants to examine ways to renew the peace process with the Palestinians. I share this desire as do the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu told the government Sunday at the start of its weekly meeting.
“We want peace,” he added.
Trump-Abbas meeting in Washington. (Reuters)
“We are also educating our children for peace,” Netanyahu said.
He added that he has heard Abbas praise terrorists and provide their families with financial support based on the seriousness of the murders they commit against Israelis.
In listening to Abbas’ speech last week at the White House during a joint press conference with Trump he was struck by the Palestinian leader’s statement that the Palestinians were educating their children for peace.
“That is simply not true,” Netanyahu said. It’s the second time since the White House press conference that Netanyahu has publicly called Abbas a liar.
“In two weeks, Israel will host US President Donald Trump and his wife on his first trip outside the United States as president,” Netanyahu said.
“The President will be warmly welcomed here as a great friend of Israel and in a manner that is worthy for a leader of our great ally, the United States,” Netanyahu said.
The peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has been frozen since April 2014. Both Netanyahu and Abbas have pledged to work with Trump on a renewed process, even as both governments have continued their activities to delegitimize each other. Right-wing politicians in particular have attacked Abbas over the issue of incitement in Palestinian text books and the PA’s continued payment to families of terrorists.