Palestinians ‘ready to engage in talks with Israel’

He is expected in Israel on May 22, but there has been no official confirmation yet.

Abu Rudeineh stressed that the Palestinian Authority has open channels of communication with the Arab leaders in order to unify their stances.

“We are in full coordination with the Arab leaders and our position with regard to the Palestinian cause is in total harmony with their views. The Arab leaders reiterated during the Arab Summit, which was held recently at the Dead Sea, in Jordan, the importance of implementing the Arab Peace Initiative in its entirety: full normalization between Israel and the Arab and Muslim countries in return for Israel’s withdrawal from the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and recognition of East Jerusalem as our capital.

“Israel is yet to comply with the terms of the Arab Peace Initiative, and (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is trying to twist it around and get to normalize ties without making any commitment to the terms of the initiative in advance. This will not happen,” he said.

Trump has been seeking ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, which have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.

As he hosted Abbas in Washington, Trump confidently predicted that a peace agreement was within grasp, brushing aside the complexities of the decades-old conflict that has bedevilled successive US leaders.

“We will get it done,” Trump said, boasting his deal-making prowess.

“It is something that I think is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years.”

Netanyahu said he was ready to meet Abbas at any time as long as it is without preconditions, but Palestinians say years of negotiations with the Israelis have not ended the occupation.

The last public meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu was in 2010, although there have been unconfirmed reports of secret meetings since then.