Jerusalem – Israel’s finance minister met with the Palestinian prime minster in the West Bank city of Ramallah this week in the wake of President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the region, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Thursday.
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It’s the first such meeting between senior Israeli and Palestinian officials in Ramallah since 2014, when U.S.-mediated peace talks collapsed.
Moshe Kahlon’s office said on Thursday that he and Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai of the Israeli defense body COGAT met with Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah this week.
The office said they discussed the goodwill gestures Israel approved ahead of Trump’s visit, aimed in part at laying the groundwork for restarting peace talks.
The measures include construction permits for Palestinians in parts of the West Bank that had previously been off limits, economic concessions and expanded hours at the Jordan border crossing.
Palestinian government spokesman Yousif al-Mahmoud confirmed the meeting and added that the focus should be on “the political solution” to the conflict and that economic incentives are not enough.