Palestinian leader snubs Israel counterpart in Brussels

By Aness Bargouthi

JERUSALEM

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to meet his Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin, in Brussels, the Israeli press reported Thursday.

According to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, European Parliament President Martin Schulz asked Rivlin if he would be willing to meet with Abbas while the two men were in the Belgian capital.

While Rivlin had voiced his readiness to meet the Palestinian president, the newspaper reported, the meeting failed to materialize after Abbas declined the invitation.

Yedioth Ahronoth went on to quote Rivlin as saying that the current Palestinian leadership was "divided" and that a more effective Palestinian leadership was needed to achieve peace.

Israel-Palestine peace talks have been suspended since 2014, when Israel objected to attempts by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas to agree on the terms of a proposed Palestinian unity government.

Since January of this year, France has been pushing its own initiative aimed at reviving the moribund peace process.

While Israel remains openly skeptical about the French initiative, the PLO says it welcomes any peace plan that could lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

By Aness Bargouthi

JERUSALEM

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to meet his Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin, in Brussels, the Israeli press reported Thursday.

According to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, European Parliament President Martin Schulz asked Rivlin if he would be willing to meet with Abbas while the two men were in the Belgian capital.

While Rivlin had voiced his readiness to meet the Palestinian president, the newspaper reported, the meeting failed to materialize after Abbas declined the invitation.

Yedioth Ahronoth went on to quote Rivlin as saying that the current Palestinian leadership was "divided" and that a more effective Palestinian leadership was needed to achieve peace.

Since January of this year, France has been pushing its own initiative aimed at reviving the moribund peace process.

While Israel remains openly skeptical about the French initiative, the PLO says it welcomes any peace plan that could lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.