Netanyahu on Trump visit: Israel wants peace, but Abbas pays terrorists
Prime Minister Netanyahu discusses Trump's impending trip to Israel—his first overseas visit as US president—saying that Israel shares his desire for a renewal of the peace process with the Palestinians; 'I share this desire and the citizens of Israel share this desire. We want peace. We educate our children for peace.'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that while Israel wants peace, the Palestinians were still paying terrorists who murdered Israelis.
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Israel on May 22 as part of his efforts to negotiate a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
"The President wants to examine ways to renew the peace process with the Palestinians," Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday morning. "I share this desire and the citizens of Israel share this desire. We want peace. We educate our children for peace."
Despite his comments, however, Netanyahu attacked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying, "I hear Abbas praising terrorists and paying them according to the severity of the murders they committed against Israelis. I also heard Abbas say they're educating their children for peace too. Unfortunately, it is just not true."
According to US officials, during their meeting in Washington last week, Trump pressed Abbas on the issue of PA payments to terrorists and families of terrorists, as well as called on the Palestinian leader to put an end to anti-Israel rhetoric and incitement of violence.
But it wasn't all stick and no carrot. Trump reportedly recommitted the United States to helping the Palestinians improve their economic conditions. US officials said before the meeting that Trump was also going to reiterate his belief that Israeli settlement construction on land claimed by the Palestinians does not advance peace prospects.
The peace process has been stalled since 2014 when former Secretary of State John Kerry's effort to lead the sides into peace talks collapsed. Since then, there have been no serious attempts to get negotiations restarted. The Obama administration spent its last months in office attempting to preserve conditions for an eventual resumption.
"We hope this will be a new beginning," Abbas told Palestinians at a meeting in Washington on the eve of the talks.
He blamed the lack of dialogue in recent years on the Israeli government, saying its leaders "have no political vision," and reiterated his demands for an independent Palestinian state along pre-1967 lines, with east Jerusalem as its capital.
"Without this we will not accept any solution," said Abbas, who touted an Arab League peace plan that offers Israel diplomatic relations with the Muslim world for a Palestinian state. "There is no alternative."
