his 12-month premiership, while long-time leader Benjamin Netanyahu oversaw a degradation of Israels relations with the Palestinian Authority, and it is reported he last spoke to the Palestinian leader in 2017.
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Underscoring the current Israeli governments changed approach, Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Abbas at his Ramallah office Thursday evening.
During the meeting, the Palestinian leader stressed the importance of creating a political horizon [and] commitment to the signed agreements, Wafa reported, referring to a series of accords signed between the two sides in the 1990s.
A statement from Gantzs office said the meeting had discussed security and civilian coordination ahead of the visit of US President Biden to Israel.
As well as Israel, Biden is also set to visit the West Bank next week where he will meet with Abbas in the first meeting between the Palestinian leader and a US President since 2017. The White House hopes the meeting will help draw a line under the significant breakdown in US-Palestinian relations seen under the Trump administration.'>
In a separate development earlier this week, Abbas travelled to Algeria where he met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, also for the first time in several years.