BICOM

Preliminary contacts have been made regarding a possible meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow in October, according to media reports in Israel.

Israel Hayom quotes an anonymous senior Israeli official, saying “ongoing, preliminary communications” are taking place. Meanwhile, YNet quotes a similar figure saying that it is “too early to tell” whether such a meeting will take place. Yesterday, a Kremlin official said that there was “nothing concrete” about a meeting yet.

Last week, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi publicly stated that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had offered to host talks between Netanyahu and Abbas. In May, al-Sisi made a surprising public plea for Israel and the Palestinians to renew peace talks in the context of brokering a wider regional peace. Netanyahu endorsed al-Sisi’s initiative and has repeatedly insisted that he is prepared to meet Abbas anytime, anywhere, without preconditions.

Meanwhile, Abbas has not given his support to al-Sisi’s initiative and is thought to favour a French plan to convene an international peace conference before the end of the year. The process, which has yet to include Israeli or Palestinian representatives, is opposed by Israel as a way for the Palestinians to avoid bilateral talks.

It is thought that a Russian-hosted meeting could present a fresh option. However, media reports suggest that Abbas already set conditions for a meeting in Moscow to take place. They include a freeze on Israeli construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem, plus the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners. Israel is highly unlikely to agree to such terms and insists that preconditions are unnecessary.

The last round of peace talks between Israel and the PA, spearheaded by the United States, was frozen in April 2014.