Israel’s Gantz: We will not promote diplomatic agreements with Palestinians

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israeli War Minister Benny Gantz said on Monday the current government will not negotiate an agreement with the Palestinians, but the possibility for future talks must be left open.

“We will not promote diplomatic agreements, but we must keep in contact so that a diplomatic horizon will be possible to ensure our security, our international strength and the continuation of the Zionist vision,” Gantz said in the Knesset on Monday, according to the Jerusalem Post.

In response to his meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in recent months, Gantz said that talking to the PA is in the interest of Israel’s security.

“Whether we want it or not, the PA is the legitimate and recognized leadership of our neighbors, and over the years, every Israeli government since [the PA] existed has had coordination and cooperation with it, along with deep and difficult disagreements,” Gantz said.

“At the same time,” Gantz said, “unlike those who led these processes under the table, I chose to manage them openly in Ramallah and in Rosh Ha’ayin.”

Gantz said that he is coordinating with the Palestinians and strengthening their economy, while making demands in return.

“The weakening of the PA over the years and the hiding of relations [with Israel] strengthened Hamas, hurt Israel’s security and failed when examining the results,” he said.

Good relations with the Palestinians, Gantz said, “are critical for our security, for the future of our children and how our state will look.”

Gantz met with Abbas at his home in late December, following a previous meeting in Ramallah and in the former’s house in the 1948-occupied territories.

Several national and Islamic factions condemned the meeting between them.

Tareq Izziddin, a spokesperson for the Islamic Jihad (IJ) movement, told QNN that the meeting “supports the occupation’s policies against our people amidst attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers, which are executed upon orders by the Israeli minister of war, Benny Gantz.”

“Such meetings simply aim at supporting security cooperation and some PA officials”, he added.

In the same context, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said in a press release that the meeting comes “amidst vicious attacks by the occupation and its settlers” and described the meeting as “betrayal of the martyrs’ blood, the suffering of detainees, and all victims of the [zinist] entity, led by the zionist criminal Benny Gantz.”

The PFLP added that Abbas continues to “depart from all national decisions, made by the national and central councils, which stress on the importance of abolishing all agreements, signed with the occupation, and ending all forms of political, security, and economic relationships” with the occupation state.

Meanwhile, Hamas described the meeting as “condemned and rejected by all national components, and a departure from the national spirit and consensus.”

Hamas added that the meeting came while Israeli settlers were carrying out attacks against people in the West Bank, which “worsened the crime of the PA’s leadership and was a stab in the back of the uprising.”

Hamas added that “such behavior deepens the Palestinian political division and complicates the Palestinian condition”.