Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon met in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, during which the two discussed recent decisions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to improve the economic situation in the Palestinian territories.
The meeting between the two senior officials, which was the first of its kind in years, took place as part of Washington’s efforts to jump-start the long-stalled political process that seeks to end the decades old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. A statement released by Israel’s Finance Ministry said that the meeting came as part of a series of other meetings between Minister Kahlon and senior Palestinian officials, aimed at providing the Palestinian leadership with details regarding Israel’s efforts to improve the economic situation across the Palestinian territories.
Meanwhile, Washington would like to see Israel take additional steps to bolster the Palestinian position ahead of negotiations, such as providing the Palestinian leadership with additional responsibilities in several areas of the West Bank, a move US officials told TV7 “would provide President Trump and the Arab world with proof of Israel’s commitment to a political process and peace.”