Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked criticized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday and said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett would not agree to meet with him.
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"Abu Mazen [Abbas]" pays funds to terrorists that murder Jews," Shaked told attendees at an international conference on counter-terrorism at Reichman University in Herzliya. "My opinion on Abu Mazen is known and will not change. He prosecutes IDF soldiers and commanders at [the International Criminal Court] at The Hague, and is therefore not a partner. The prime minister will not meet with him and does not intend to meet with him [in the future]."
Shaked's remarks come two weeks after Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Abbas, with Bennett's knowledge and permission, in Ramallah. This was the first such official meeting between a senior Israeli minister and the PA president since 2010. Following the meeting, Israel approved a 500-million-shekel ($156 million) loan to the PA to help stabilize its troubled economic situation.
Ahead of Gantz's meeting with Abbas, Shaked warned Foreign Minister and Prime Miniser-designate "Yair Lapid won't have a government if he tries to advance a move that includes the two-state solution."
