US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday and discussed with them Israeli-Palestinian issues., the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a press briefing that Blinken had called Abbas as part of efforts to “prioritize re-engagement with the Palestinian people and Palestinian Authority.”
Price said there was a discussion on “the need to improve quality of life for the Palestinian people in tangible ways” and “the need for reform within the Palestinian Authority.”
Blinken also stressed to Abbas that US policy remains “that Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live with equal measures of security, freedom, prosperity, and crucially, dignity.”
A readout of the phone call from Abbas’s office did not mention the call for reform, according to a report from the Reuters news agency, and said that Abbas had told Blinken that the Zionist entity must “stop the abuse of prisoners” and the “withholding of taxes.”
In his call with Lapid, Blinken talked of “the strong US-Israel relationship and shared challenges, including the risks of further Russian aggression against Ukraine as well as the threats posed by Iran,” Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said.
“Blinken reiterated the Administration’s steadfast commitment to Israel’s security,” it said.
Source: Israeli media
