Netanyahu and Abbas Shake Hands at Paris Climate Summit

Image by Getty Images

By JTA November 30, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shook hands at the United Nations climate change conference near Paris.

The two leaders met and spoke after the group photo of the some 150 world leaders in attendance at the conference, which is being held at Le Bourget Airport just outside the French capital. Abbas and Netanyahu had been standing in the same row, with only one person between them.

It was the first time the leaders have come face to face with each other since September 2010.

Netanyahu, Abbas shake hands in Paris, are epicly photobombed by the President of Comoros – https://t.co/sV72UD8gcg pic.twitter.com/ITVXnLT1st

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) November 30, 2015

Netanyahu also met on the sidelines of the summit with President Barack Obama for about 10 minutes. They were joined at the end by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, according to reports.

Netanyahu is scheduled to have official meetings with French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the prime ministers of Canada, Poland, Japan, Australia, India and the Netherlands, according to The Jerusalem Post.

He reportedly also spoke on the sidelines of the conference with Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Britain’s Prince Charles, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and, according to some reports, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

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 polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO