World Jewish Congress leader meets with Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah

The head of the World Jewish Congress, Ron Lauder, met with the Palestinian Authority president in Samaria on Saturday.

By World Israel News Staff and TPS

A Jordanian helicopter with the president of the World Jewish Congress, Ron Lauder, landed in Ramallah on Saturday.

Sources in Ramallah confirmed that Lauder met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but refused to elaborate. Israeli sources told the TPS news agency that the two were discussing political matters.

A Jerusalem Post report citing Palestinian media contained indications that the meeting was designed to coax Abbas back to the negotiations table to hammer out an agreement with Israel.

Lauder was formerly close to the Israeli prime minister and was involved in a number of political issues.

He also recently met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi

Lauder has previously met with Abbas, whose popularity among Palestinians has seen a precipitous drop in recent years.

A September opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research showed Abbas’ popularity waning, indicating that the head of the Hamas terror group, Ismail Haniyeh, would sweep a public vote if the Palestinians were to hold their first elections in 14 years.

The poll showed that the majority of Palestinians (62%) want to boot Abbas from office and are dissatisfied with the Palestinian Authority government in general.

Eighty percent of those polled called the PA “corrupt,” deeming it a burden on the Palestinian people.