US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, as the new US Administration seeks to restart the long-stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen since 2014 and the Palestinians have been concerned with the more favorable approach shown by Washington towards Netanyahu since Trump took office on the 20th of January.
Nevertheless, during the meeting in Ramallah, Greenblatt presented to President Abbas a compromise proposal for resumption of the negotiations with Israel, which includes a slowdown of settlement construction and a commitment not to issue new construction tenders during the negotiation period. Greenblatt also made a commitment to Abbas that US-aid to the Palestinian Authority would continue. Western diplomats have assessed that the Palestinian President would accept the proposal. President Abbas and the American envoy Greenblatt agreed to discuss the details of Washington’s proposal to the Palestinians in a summit meeting between the Palestinian leader and President Donald Trump, which is scheduled for the beginning next month.