Palestinian Leader Abbas Invited To The White House
Image by getty images
By Nathan Guttman March 10, 2017
It took a full seven weeks, but President Trump finally spoke to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas by phone Friday afternoon.
Trump, according to a Palestinian spokesman, invited Abbas to meet with him at the White House in the near future, although the date is yet to be set. The spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said Trump wishes to discuss with the Palestinian president ways to “resume the political process, stressing his commitment to a peace process that will lead to a real peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”
The Trump administration has also allowed the release of $221 million in aid to the Palestinians, after initially vowing to block transfer of an assistance package approved in the final hours of the Obama administration. According to the State Department, the aid was provided directed to projects on the ground and not disbursed through the Palestinian Authority.
Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America expressed disappointment with the decision to invite Abbas to the White House. “Abbas pays families of Arabs who murder Israelis,” Klein said. “He should not be allowed anywhere close to the White House.”
Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
