High-level communication between Israel and the PA was severed during the time former US president Donald Trump was in office.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid held the first conversation that an Israeli leader in that office has had with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in five years when he called into good wishes in honor of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
“The two discussed continued [security] coordination and the need to ensure peace and quiet,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
It added that Abbas had congratulated Lapid for becoming Israel’s 14th Prime Minister last week.
A blitz of well-wishes
The call follows one by to Abbas easier in the day by President Isaac Herzog and a meeting that Defense Minister Gantz held with him in Ramallah on Thursday night.
High-level communication between Israel and the PA was severed during the time former US president Donald Trump was in office. Prior to that, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called Abbas with well-wishes for the Eid holiday.
Communication was restored in the last year when Biden took office and Netanyahu left office, but it had not occurred at the prime ministerial level.
What about Bennett?
Bennett had refused to meet or speak with Abbas, although he did allow for Gantz to do so.
Bennett had also opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, whereas Lapid supports a two-state resolution to the conflict.
During his trip to Paris earlier this week, Lapid told reporters that he was not opposed to a meeting with Abbas but such a face-to-face meeting was not on the agenda at the moment.
“I would only do it if there was a chance of a positive result for Israel,” Lapid said.
“I would only do it if there was a chance of a positive result for Israel.”
Prime Minister Yair Lapid