Benjamin Netanyahu Calls Mahmoud Abbas To Offer Condolences Over Brother’s Death
Image by getty images
– Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to offer condolences on the death of Abbas’ brother.
Omar Abbas died in Qatar Thursday, with the funeral taking place on Friday. He had been suffering from cancer and had been undergoing treatment in Tel Aviv’s Assuta Medical Center, the AFP news agency reported.
Netanyahu called Abbas on Friday, according to an official from Netanyahu’s office, who said the conversation was “only to offer condolences.” No other topics were discussed, he said.
Palestinian state media confirmed the call.
Relations between the two men are frosty, with Netanyahu accusing Abbas of libeling the Jewish people last month after he suggested some rabbis had called for Palestinian wells to be poisoned. The Israeli leadership has often accused the Palestinian leader of promoting incitement against Israel in Palestinian media, thereby encouraging violent attacks against Israelis.
Abbas and Netanyahu shook hands at a climate summit in Paris in November, but held no significant talks.
The last substantial public meeting between them is thought to date back to 2010, though there have been unconfirmed reports of secret meetings since then.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
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.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
