Abbas confidante: Goodwill measures ‘meaningless’

PA President confidante Ahmad Majdalani described Israel's economic goodwill measures announced Monday as "meaningless."

By ADAM RASGON
Updated: MAY 22, 2017 19:08
Border Police officers stop Palestinian women to check their belongings at a checkpoint in Hebron (photo credit: AFP PHOTO)
Border Police officers stop Palestinian women to check their belongings at a checkpoint in Hebron
(photo credit: AFP PHOTO)
The economic goodwill measures Israel announced on Sunday are “meaningless,” Ahmad Majdalani, a confidant of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said on Monday.
“This is an attempt to beautify and market the occupation,” Majdalani told The Jerusalem Post. “We need to end the occupation and realize the two-state solution – these minimal measures do not do that.”
The Israeli cabinet announced on Sunday that it approved the 24-hour operation of the Allenby Border Crossing through the end of September, the development of the Tarkumiya industrial zone and building permits for homes in Area C.
Majdalani added that the Israeli government’s decision to undertake goodwill measures is not novel.
“We are familiar with these measures,” Majdalani remarked. “They were announced on other occasions in the past and did not succeed to lead to the end of the occupation.”
Israel has historically announced series of goodwill measures ahead of peace talks in the past.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, a branch of the Defense Ministry responsible for implementing the goodwill measures, declined to comment.
Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, has discussed the development of the Palestinian economy in almost all of his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Trump will be visiting Bethlehem on Tuesday to meet with Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials.