Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz approved a raft of measures aimed at improving relations with the Palestinians on Wednesday following a rare meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Israel. Gantz met with Abbas at his private residence in a Tel Aviv suburb late Tuesday night. It was the first time Abbas met an Israeli official inside Israel since 2010. The Israeli defense ministry in a statement on Tuesday said "the two men discussed security and civil matters" during the meeting, which Israeli media reported took place at Gantz's home in Rosh Ha'ayin in central Israel. Gantz told Abbas he intended to "continue to promote actions to strengthen confidence in the economic and civilian fields, as agreed during their last meeting", the statement added. In late August, Gantz visited the PA's headquarters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Abbas. It was the first official meeting at such a level in several years. But after those talks, Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said there was no peace process ongoing with the Palestinians, "and there won't be one". On Wednesday, Israel's defence ministry announced "confidence-building measures" with the PA. They included a $32m advance payment to the PA in taxes collected on its behalf by Israel and the granting of 600 extra permits allowing Palestinian businessmen to cross into Israel. Israel collects hundreds of millions of dollars worth of taxes on behalf of the PA as part of the interim peace agreements signed in the 1990s. The tax transfers are a key source of funding for the cash-strapped Palestinians, but Israel has withheld funds over the PA's payment of stipends to thousands of families that have had relatives killed, wounded or imprisoned in the conflict. Israel says the payments incentivize terrorism, while the Palestinians say they provide crucial support to needy families. Earlier in the day, Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein Al Sheikh tweeted that Abbas's latest meeting with Gantz "dealt with the importance of creating a political horizon that leads to a political solution in accordance with international resolutions". The last round of peace talks, brokered by the United States, collapsed in 2014. The pair also discussed "the tense conditions on the ground due to the practices of settlers, and the meeting dealt with many security, economic and humanitarian issues", according to Al Sheikh. For his part, Gantz tweeted: "We discussed the implementation of economic and civilian measures, and emphasised the importance of deepening security coordination and preventing terror and violence – for the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians." The meeting, which lasted for two and a half hours, included the head of the Israeli military branch responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, Ghasan Alyan, senior PA official Hussein Al Sheikh and Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj. Observers believe that US pressure "to see progress or at least some indication of willingness to talk by the Israelis with the Palestinians" is likely what prompted the meeting. Meanwhile, Hamas, the group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip, condemned the talks between Gantz and Abbas, saying the meeting departs from the "national spirit of the Palestinian people". Spokesman Hazem Qassem added the behavior of the PA's leadership will "deepen the Palestinian political division and complicates the Palestinian situation". Israeli opposition party Likud also criticised the meeting, saying that "concessions dangerous for Israel's security were only a matter of time". "The Israeli-Palestinian government has put the Palestinians and Abbas back on the agenda ... it is dangerous for Israel," the party added in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Bennett is opposed to renewed peace negotiations with the Palestinians and has refused to meet with Abbas. Nevertheless, his government has pledged to prop up the Palestinian Authority and strengthen its ailing economy, with Gantz spearheading the move. Gantz has said he sees Abbas's regime as the only alternative to an empowered Hamas in the West Bank. "If the Palestinian Authority is stronger, Hamas will be weaker. When the Palestinian Authority has more ability to enforce order, there will be more security, and our hand will be forced less," Gantz said in late August. — Agencies
