JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday to express condolences on the death of his older brother, the Israeli premier’s office said.
“I join you in your deep pain at the loss of your brother,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying. Netanyahu and Abbas have not met face-to-face since September, shortly before direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down, just three weeks after they were launched.
The Israeli leader told Abbas in the phone call that he hoped they could resume negotiations, which collapsed after a 10-month Israeli moratorium on settlement building in the occupied West Bank expired. “We are neighbours,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “And I believe with all my heart that with mutual effort and will we can move toward real peace between our peoples.”
