BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said Thursday he regretted that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas refused to meet with him in Brussels.
"I was glad to welcome the initiative of EU leaders to organize a meeting between me and President Abbas who is also in Brussels today. I was very upset to know that he refused to hold a meeting," Rivlin told journalists.
He said that Israel and Palestine could communicate directly and find a way to build confidence.
"It seem strange to me that President Mahmoud Abbas, my friend Abu Mazen, again and again refuses to meet with Israeli leaders and again and again asks for the international community’s support," the Israeli president said.
Relations between the two countries have been strained for decades, as Palestinians have been seeking diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.
