Defense Minister Benny Gantz hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at his home in Rosh Ha'ayin, in central Israel, on Tuesday night, the Defense Ministry confirmed.
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This was the first time Abbas met with a top Israeli official in Israel since 2010, Kan 11 News said.
Gantz and Abbas held their first official meeting in August, in Ramallah – the seat of Abbas' government – in what was the highest-level public meeting between Palestinian and Israeli officials since Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government was formed in June.
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian was present at Tuesday's meeting, as were the PA's Civil Affairs Minister Hussein Al-Sheik and Ramallah's General Intelligence Services Commander Majed Faraj.
A statement by the Defense Ministry said that during the meeting, Gantz "emphasized the shared interest in strengthening security cooperation, preserving security stability, and preventing terrorism and violence," and further told Abbas that he intended to "continue advancing confidence-building measures in civil and economic fields."
Taking to Twitter, Gantz wrote that he and the Palestinian leader "discussed the implementation of economic and civilian measures, and emphasized the importance of deepening security coordination and preventing terror and violence - for the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians."
Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh said the two discussed the "importance of creating a political horizon," for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but collapsed in 2014. Efforts to resume it have so far proved futile.
News of the meeting sparked anger among right-wing lawmakers as well as among some in the coalition.
According to media reports, Gantz informed Bennett and PM-designate Yair Lapid ahead of the meeting, but the rest of the cabinet was not informed. The Jerusalem Post noted that Bennett later told confidants privately that he was not in favor of the idea but could not stop it.
"I would not invite to my home someone who pays salaries to murderers of Israelis and who is trying to put me on trial for war crimes," New Hope Minister Ze'ev Elkin told Israel Radio on Wednesday in criticism of Gantz.
The Likud slammed the meeting, saying in a that Bennett's government was "placing Abbas and the Palestinians to the [national] agenda.
"Concessions that will be dangerous to Israeli security are only a matter of time."
Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich critizied the meeting, saying that "a decade after the Right succeeded in making Abbas irrelevant and persona non grata around the world, Bennett and his left-wing government are returning Abbas to center stage."
Likud MK Avi Dicther, formerly the director of the Israel Security Agency, slammed Gantz's "gall" in hosting Abbas in his home "in the midst of a terrorist spree. The prime minister is clearly losing control of the government," he said.
Meretz and Labor politicians welcomed the meeting. Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz said strengthening ties and seeking a diplomatic solution are key interests of both peoples.
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