PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Washington (AP/Evan Vucci)
Abbas invited Trump to visit Bethlehem as part of the US president’s trip to Israel.
Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas invited US President Donald Trump to the PA-controlled city of Bethlehem at the White House on Wednesday.
“When I congratulated him on his success, I invited him to visit Bethlehem and wished he would visit us on Christmas as an important world figure,” Abbas said to Palestine TV. “We mentioned the invitation again this time and God willing he gets the chance to visit the Holy Land.”
Abbas made his remarks as plans are currently in motion to lay the groundwork for an upcoming visit by Trump to Israel.
The PA Chairman added that he and Trump “also discussed many different issues, mainly how we can quickly start to solve the Palestinian issue.” Abbas also conveyed the “(PA) position on terrorism, which was important to clarify to President Trump, and our position and vision on the two-state solution.”
For his part, Trump “raised concerns about the payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who have committed acts of terror,” according to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Trump’s press secretary added the president also expressed the need to prevent “incitement to violence, particularly [from] media outlets directly associated with the Palestinian Authority.”
During a joint press conference with Abbas, Trump said, “there cannot be lasting peace unless the Palestinian leaders speak in a unified voice against incitement to violate — and violence and hate.”
“There’s such hatred, but hopefully there won’t be such hatred for very long,” Trump continued. “All children of God must be taught to value and respect human life, and condemn all of those who target the innocent.”
By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News
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