Israeli-PA Relations: Gantz defends meeting with Abbas, says had Bennett’s backing

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett approved of a recent meeting between Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and also thinks Israel should work to shore up the PA leader’s hold on power, Gantz has said.

Gantz met Sunday with Abbas, marking the highest-level meetings between Israel and the PA in over a decade. The defense chief later announced a series of goodwill gestures toward the Palestinians, including a NIS 500 million ($155 million) “loan” of withheld tax revenues.

Some right-wing members of Bennett’s government coalition criticized the move, and Bennett himself, a former settler leader, has ruled out launching a diplomatic process with Ramallah, but Gantz insisted that the premier was on board with him meeting Abbas.

The prime minister knew about my trip, recognized my trip, knows what I’m talking about,” Gantz told Channel 12 news in an interview on Wednesday evening.

The defense minister noted that both he and Abbas “know that we cannot, at the moment, come to a diplomatic agreement,” but that they both believe in maintaining security ties in order to stabilize the region.

“It was a very important meeting, it was a meeting about security, where we discussed security cooperation and joint activities,” added Gantz. “We want to strengthen the moderate forces in the area.”

A statement from the Defense Ministry Sunday indicated that the focus of the meeting had been discussing moves to bolster the PA’s economy.

“The two also discussed shaping the security, civilian and economic reality in Judea, Samaria and Gaza,” the statement read.

“Whoever thinks that this is a simple formula to manage is mistaken,” Gantz added. “It is not simple. It is complicated.”

The defense minister said criticism of the meeting stems from a lack of understanding of the geopolitical forces at play.

“The strategic relations and security ties of the State of Israel should be looked at from a higher vantage point than some headline on Twitter or report from someone from somewhere,” Gantz said.

Bennett, who is walking a tightrope between his right-wing base and center-left coalition partners, has not commented on the meeting, which took place as he was en route back to Israel from Washington, where he met with US President Joe Biden.