BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met with leaders from The Israel Project in New York on Tuesday, telling his audience that he would try to eliminate incitement against Israelis as talks continue.
A statement from the group called the event, and its question and answer period "unprecedented," saying some 65 business, political and religious leaders from America's Jewish community attended the event, held in a private Manhattan home.
"Conversations continued informally over dinner," the statement noted, where Fayyad noted that violence "has to be dealt out of the equation permanently regardless of what happens in the peace process."
The TIP statement noted that Fayyad criticized Israeli military incursions into the West Bank, particularly areas designated under the full control of the Palestinain Authority. He told the audience that the incursions weakened PA credibility at a time when it was working hard to improve the lives of Palestinians.
"Fayyad declined to discuss final status issues such as the Palestinian 'right of return'" the statement said, noting that the prime minister added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand to station Israeli troops along the eastern border of a future Palestinian state with Jordan was incompatible with true sovereignty.
On Monday in Jerusalem, TIP hosted a news conference with Deputy Israeli Prime Minister Dan Meridor. The following day, it organized two tours for journalists, in Arabic and English, to the West Bank. On Wednesday, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev will address a TIP news conference in New York.
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